Faurecia Clean Mobility plans to permanently close its plant at 2301 Commerce Center Drive in Franklin in 2027. The closure will put all 180 employees out of work through a staggered series of layoffs beginning January 8, 2027. The layoffs will unfold in five phases, with every worker expected to be dismissed by April 30 or within two weeks after that date.
The company notified the state on November 6 of its intention to permanently close the facility, according to WDTN. A WARN notice detailing the job cuts was filed with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, as reported by the Dayton Daily News. Faurecia representatives did not return calls seeking comment, and the company has not released information about what factors drove the decision to close the plant, per the Dayton Daily News.
Five Phases, Same Blueprint as Troy
The Franklin shutdown mirrors a structure Faurecia used before. In 2024, the company closed a plant in Troy, Ohio, also carrying out the layoffs in five phases. That closure, affecting 60 employees at Faurecia Exhaust Systems, began in November 2024 with the plant shutting down fully the following April, according to the same WDTN report and corroborated by WYSO.
At the time of the Troy closure, a Faurecia spokesperson told WYSO the company wanted to make its manufacturing footprint more efficient. WYSO also reported that Troy's affected workers were not represented by a union — a detail specific to that plant. The Dayton Daily News reports that Faurecia Clean Mobility employees in Franklin are likewise not represented by a union.
A 2023 Death and a Federal Finding
The Franklin facility drew scrutiny following the October 2023 death of a 26-year-old worker who died while placing cardboard under a machine that bends vehicle exhaust pipes, according to the Dayton Daily News. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined the death was preventable. In a 2024 release, OSHA stated that the company could have prevented the fatality if it had provided proper machine guarding.
OSHA also issued multiple citations to Faurecia for safety infractions tied to the incident, and the company faced more than $314,000 in penalties, per the Dayton Daily News. Investigators determined that Faurecia had not properly trained employees in certain procedures, the paper reported. The available evidence does not establish a connection between those findings and the company's decision to close the Franklin plant.
Part of a Global Supplier Network
Faurecia is part of Forvia, described by the Dayton Daily News as one of the world's largest automotive suppliers. The company designs, engineers, and manufactures key components and smart systems for major carmakers worldwide, according to the same report. For now, the Franklin facility's 180 workers face a defined but staggered timeline, with the first wave of dismissals set for January 8, 2027, and the plant's doors expected to close for good by the following spring.
