Caterpillar closing two manufacturing plants

Caterpillar is closing its factories in Aurora Illinois and at Gosselies in Belgium, with the loss of around 3,000 jobs in all. The Aurora facility makes wheeled loaders, with production being switched over to facilities at Decatur, also in Illinois, as well as North Little Rock in Arkansas. This will result in the loss of 800 jobs at the Aurora plant although there will be more personnel required at the Decatur and North Little Rock facilities that will offset the losses Meanwhile the firm says that the
April 4, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
178 Caterpillar is closing its factories in Aurora Illinois and at Gosselies in Belgium, with the loss of around 3,000 jobs in all. The Aurora facility makes wheeled loaders, with production being switched over to facilities at Decatur, also in Illinois, as well as North Little Rock in Arkansas. This will result in the loss of 800 jobs at the Aurora plant although there will be more personnel required at the Decatur and North Little Rock facilities that will offset the losses

Meanwhile the firm says that the closure of the Gosselies site will impact on some 2,000 employees. The firm first announced that it was considering allocating production at the Belgian facility to other manufacturing plants in September 2016. However the company has now made the formal decision to close the facility, so production of its products on the site will be gradually phased out. All production is expected to cease by mid-year 2017. The other operations and functions on the Gosselies site are expected to be gradually ramped down until the end of 2017.

Caterpillar Belgium has agreed to sell the site to the Region of Wallonia. Ownership of the facility will switch to the firm Sogepa, which is an investment company of the Region. In order to support reconversion of the site, Caterpillar agreed to sell the site plus some of the installations and assets for a symbolic euro. The sale is to be effective on 30th June 2018.
Earthmoving & soil compaction Finance & Funding

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Wacker Neuson bullish with strong results
    May 8, 2019
    The Wacker Neuson Group reports a strong financial performance for the first quarter of 2019. The firm’s results reveal a double-digit rise in revenue to €434.6 million, a gain of 17%. The company saw even higher growth of profit before interest and tax (EBIT) growth to reach €30.2 million, a jump of 31%. Meanwhile the firm’s EBIT margin improved to 6.9%, a gain of 0.7%. “This strong start to the year sees us continue the dynamic pace of growth from the fourth quarter of 2018. Demand for our products and
    Read More
  • Looking around the world with bitumen technology
    March 4, 2015
    Russia needs polymer-modified bitumen; the UK is embracing US-style pavement preservation technology and gearing up to import more bitumen; and Italy prepares to export innovative modifying technology; plus a look at the market in Asia Pacific and the Middle East – Kristina Smith reports. The Total Group has announced two recent deals which underline the changing bitumen market around the world. In Moscow, it is constructing a new type of polymer-modified bitumen (PMB) plant in joint venture with Gazprom Ne
    Read More
  • Postivite outlook for Spanish auction
    April 30, 2012
    Euro Auctions reports strong pre-auction registrations for its sale at Valencia in Spain on 30th September. The firm is also increasing its team in Spain with the appointment of two additional staff.
    Read More
  • Sunward is developing its position in the European market
    January 6, 2017
    Introducing innovative new mini excavators and opening a new European headquarters are key moves by Sunward that will raise the firm’s profile and boost its export operations. Chairman and founder of Sunward is He Qinghua and he outlined the firm’s strategy, explaining how this Chinese company has secured a strong foothold in Europe. “Compared to other Chinese companies, Sunward is not a big firm. But we were the first Chinese company to enter into Europe.” The company builds a wide range of machines at it
    Read More

Highlighted Content