Alabama auto parts plant to close, lay off 82 amid tariffs

A Tenneco-owned car part plant in Boaz, Alabama will lay off 82 employees in September.
While the reason for the closure is unclear, the automotive industry is facing challenges due to new tariffs on foreign-made cars.
Some automakers, like Mercedes-Benz, are experiencing profit losses and adjusting pricing and delivery strategies in response to the tariffs.

A plant that manufactures car parts will be closing down in the coming months, leaving a little under a hundred Alabamians out of work.

Federal-Mogul Motorparts, as of 2018, is owned by Tenneco, an automotive parts production company. Tenneco produces parts for several auto makers, namely, Mercedes Benz and Toyota, which both have assembly plants in Alabama, in Vance and Huntsville respectively.

According to DRiV, an aftermarket business unit of Tenneco, the plant in Boaz, Alabama, that is closing produces chassis.

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Closing soon

According to the Alabama Department of Commerce, the company will lay off 82 employees at the Boaz plant.

The WARN notice, as documented on the Alabama Department of Commerce site, was filed on July 30, with the closure going into effect on September 25.

The WARN notice ahead of this closure, as documented on the ADOC site, was only filed 58 days ahead of the effective action.

The WARN act, a federal law passed in 1988, requires companies to notify workers in writing before mass layoffs. Specifically, companies with over 100 employees are required to provide a 60-day notice of significant layoffs or plant closings to allow workers to properly accommodate for the loss of work.

Federal-Mogul has not responded to multiple requests for comment, leaving the situation behind the closure — why the plant is closing, what opportunities exist for employees affected by the layoffs, why the WARN notice was filed as it was — unclear.

Auto industry facing tariff-induced woes

Though the reason for the Boaz plant layoffs is unclear, the automotive industry is facing difficult times with the introduction of new auto tariffs under President Donald Trump’s administration.

A 25% levy on foriegn-made cars went into effect in early April, and some businesses seem to be feeling the weight already. Mercedes-Benz, whose sole American assembly facility is in Alabama, said on July 30 that the company expects to turn a 4% to 6% profit margin this year, and that on account of auto tariffs, has lost almost $420 million.

Though they expect to continue production in the plant near Tuscaloosa, according to Reuters, the company has announced that they plan to cut prices on new models and pause deliveries of their EQ electric range to the U.S.

Some countries who are big exporters of foreign cars have scored lower tariffs through trade deals. Notably, Trump announced via Truth Social on July 30 that the U.S. reached a trade deal with South Korea to set blanket tariffs at 15%, among other things.

Hyundai, a Korean automaker with a huge stake in Alabama given the plant in Montgomery, has publicly said that though the recent trade deal with South Korea gives them stability, the main question now centers on lowering costs for those in the supply chain.

“Now it’s about a discussion of how do we try to offset tariffs at the supplier level, at the transportation and logistics level, our own costs here, so that those costs are at least limited, if not no costs being passed on to the consumer,” Robert Burns, vice president of Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, told WSFA in July.

Sarah Clifton covers business for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X @sarahgclifton. To support her work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

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