Mass. Auto-Parts Makers May Survive GM Bankruptcy

A General Motors distribution center in Boston will close under the automaker's restructuring plan, but some say the impact of the bankruptcy filing may not be as big as it might have been for several Massachusetts auto-parts manufacturers.

The plastics industry around Clinton, Mass., used to manufacture a lot for American carmakers, things like wiring harnesses and interior paneling. Still, Megan McCaffrey, head of the Wachusett Chamber of Commerce, says the bankruptcy will not severely affect her members.

"They’re actually getting out of the automotive industry," McCaffrey says. She points to Nypro as a good example. The Clinton plastics manufacturer with $1.2 billion in sales now only does a third of the car business it used to.

"They felt that the industry is going in a different direction and they wanted to diversify out of that," she says.

And the work that Nypro still does for automakers – none of that is performed at the Clinton plant anymore.