Kendallville auto parts plant to close next year

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Kendallville, Ind. - Tower Automotive is closing its northeastern Indiana auto parts - a move that will cost more than 100 workers their jobs.

The Novi, Michigan-based company says it will shift auto suspension part production from the Kendallville plant to its other North American operations in an effort to consolidate production and improve cost competitiveness.

The company has been struggling to emerge from bankruptcy since February 2005.

Tower spokesman Joe Kirik says it will take several months to wind down work at the factory, where 114 employees work in the city about 30 miles north of Fort Wayne.

Kendallville Mayor Suzanne Handshoe says the plant closure will be devastating for the city, which had tried to entice the company to stay.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)