Michigan Business & Economy

Delphi is on the rise, but it's leaving workers and retirees behind

Michigan Public | By Stateside Staff

Published February 19, 2015 at 4:26 PM EST

Power converters in development at Delphi Automotive.

Our conversation with Daniel Howes.

It could have been a story of a company's ruin following a bankruptcy in 2005.

Instead, Delphi Automotive is "a Wall Street love story" -- but at what cost to its American workforce?

After U.S. bankruptcy, the automotive parts manufacturing company moved its headquarters from Troy to the U.K.

As a result, the company has gone from 47,000 U.S. workers to just 5,000, according to Detroit News business reporter Daniel Howes, whose recent column focuses on Delphi and its longstanding CEO Rodney O'Neal.

Now Delphi has turned itself around by focusing on safety technologies, environmental and green technologies, and infotainment and electronics. It's on its way back to becoming a top-tier supplier Howes says.

But the company's resurgence has left many hoping to get their due. Workers and retirees were left behind in the restructuring, and some saw their pensions slashed by as much as two-thirds.

Howes says an ongoing legal case is underway, but Delphi today is legally and technically a separate company. The claims are against the old Delphi, and the legal battle could last a long time.