GM Faces 'Catastrophic' Assembly Disruption After Parts Supplier Goes Bankrupt

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

A Massachusetts-based parts supplier you’ve probably never heard of could force General Motors’ entire North American operation to grind to a halt.

Clark-Cutler-McDermott Co. stopped making acoustic insulation and trim pieces for GM vehicles on Friday after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a situation it blames on money-losing contracts signed with the automaker, a source told The Detroit News.

The supplier’s parts are found in almost every U.S. vehicle GM builds. With its workforce now laid off, and the supply chain disrupted, GM faces a grim situation — a shutdown of its assembly operations and millions of dollars in losses per day.

GM went to a U.S. District judge last month to impose a temporary restraining order on Clark-Cutler-McDermott, but that order expired at the beginning of the week. The supplier previously shut down on June 17, but the legal intervention briefly kept the supply of parts flowing.

In a court filing obtained by The Detroit News, GM spells out how serious the situation is:

A continued disruption in the supply of component parts will also cause a catastrophic disruption in the supply chain and the operations of countless GM suppliers, dealers, customers, and other stakeholders, including the potential layoff of tens of thousands of workers in the event GM’s North American operations are completely shut down.

The automaker is over a barrel — GM doesn’t have a backlog of parts to work with, as its contract with Clark-Cutler-McDermott was of the just-in-time delivery variety. No other supplier makes the parts Clark-Cutler-McDermott provides GM.

The supplier, which deals mostly with GM, claims its contracts caused it to lose $12 million over the past three years. In the court filing, GM claims it loaned the supplier millions of dollars to continue production.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing scheduled for today will map out where both companies go from here. Any number of scenarios could come from the ruling, including the supplier being forced to honor its contract with the automaker. So far, there haven’t been any assembly disruptions related to the issue.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • TCowner We've had a 64.5 Mustang in the family for the past 40 years. It is all original, Rangoon Red coupe with 289 (one of the first instead of the 260), Rally Pac, 4-speed, factory air, every option. Always gets smiles and thumbs ups.
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  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
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  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
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