Yesterday I talked about Anderson car dealers and parts dealers, and how the government’s “Cash For Clunkers” program might have both good and harmful effects on businesses related to the automotive industry. Throughout the state of Indiana, I’ve been tracking news, good as well as not-so-good, about automobiles and automobile owners.
One very positive piece of news concerns the city of Anderson. With the help of a $2 million grant from Indiana’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, a company called Truck Emission Control Technologies out of Jackson Michigan, is establishing a new headquarters for operations and manufacturing of diesel emission controls in Anderson’s Flagship Enterprise Center.
Also on the positive side, Enerl, which produces automotive batteries in Indianapolis, is teaming up with Nissan Motor Company to research how to improve the quality of electric and hybrid vehicle batteries.
Some not-so-good news relates to auto parts maker Delphi Corporation’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy, which won the approval of the bankruptcy court. The plan calls for Delphi to hand over most of its assets to its lenders and to GM, its former parent and biggest customer. (GM, of course, just emerged from its own bankruptcy process.)
As a lawyer offering bankruptcy services throughout central Indiana, I am keenly interested in the news about Delphi. First, Delphi’s story is a good illustration of how a corporation navigates through the bankruptcy process. More to the point of this blog post, when Delphi turns over its assets, that could include the Delphi plant in Kokomo, Indiana, which is the second-largest employer in the city.
The biggest auto-related news stories are coming out of Connersville, Indiana. Carbon Motors, a high-tech police car manufacturing company, chose that location for its new headquarters, which could mean thousands of new jobs coming to the area.
Since jobs are so vital to the success of the bankruptcy process, as a consumer bankruptcy specialist, I have been following the story closely.
In addition, there’s a special legal twist to this particular story, in that the plan was to house the Carbon Motors headquarters in the old Visteon plan. Visteon filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May of this year, with the idea of buying time to reorganize while continuing to honor their obligations to suppliers and employees. The city of Connersville was planning to buy the plant from Visteon, but the transaction would need to be approved by the bankruptcy trustee. Before Carbon can get federal funding, it has to name its location. I’m staying tuned to learn the results of this dilemma, and will keep you posted….