Gissing North America LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with up to $100 million in liabilities, including $13.3 million owed to Tesla Inc.
Under an agreement pending approval, however, the electric vehicle behemoth and other customers, including General Motors Co., have agreed to keep the supplier afloat until it is sold.
Gissing, based in Bingham Farms, Mich., is a subsidiary of a Chinese automotive supplier, and manufactures interior acoustic and cargo management systems for Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.
The company filed late Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit. It is the first known metro Detroit-based auto supplier to file for bankruptcy amid continued financial volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing supply chain woes.
In the filing, Gissing said it has between $50 million and $100 million in assets and the same range of estimated liabilities. It has 200-999 creditors, including hundreds based in Michigan, according to the filing.
The filing includes 700 pages of creditors, including Alta Equipment Co., BASF Corp., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Bodman LLP, Borgwarner Inc., Central Transport and Tri-Chem Corp.
Owned by Wuxi Gissing Auto Parts Co., the U.S. subsidiary was formed in 2016. Wuxi operates 14 plants around the world.
Gissing announced last year plans for an $18.7 million investment and 116 new jobs at a plant in Greenville, S.C. It had six plants in the U.S. as of last year, according to a news release from the Greenville Area Development Corp.
It is unclear how many employees the company has in Michigan.
The company could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
