Checker Motors, which once produced the famous Checker taxicabs and now is a parts supplier for the Big Three automakers, has filed for bankruptcy in federal court in Grand Rapids. Automotive News notes, “The 87-year-old Kalamazoo company has 246 employees and makes metal stampings and welded assemblies. It stopped making cabs more than 25 years ago.” Checker was not the only auto parts supplier going under.
Also on Friday, electronics supplier May & Scofield LLC shut down after Bank of America foreclosed on its U.S. assets, the Associated Press reported Sunday. The 74-year-old company in suburban Lansing had awaited an Oct. 1 sale that collapsed with the crisis on Wall Street, the AP said.
Checker joins seven other major U.S. suppliers that filed for bankruptcy protection in the past year, which saw the lowest U.S. auto sales since 1992. At least 54 major U.S. suppliers have filed for protection this decade, including three companies that filed twice, according to an Automotive News tally.
The bad news continues.
