Chrysler supplier ordered to supply parts in Canada

Transcast Precision Inc, the transmission-parts maker engaged in a price dispute with Chrysler LLC, was ordered by an Ontario court to provide the automaker with enough inventory for 14 days of production.

Another proceeding is required during the two-week period to settle price and supply issues, Transcast Precision said yesterday in a statement distributed by PRNewswire.

“If the North American auto industry intends to rebuild itself and emerge from our current recession, it must defend the rights of all business owners, especially the auto parts manufacturers who are being economically exploited, Transcast Precision President Dean Topolinski said in the statement.

Chrysler, under a 30-day government deadline to reorganise, shut a second Ontario factory on April 2 because of the dispute.

The company got an order on April 2 from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that calls for Transcast Precision to give the automaker access to tooling and machinery owned by it at the Wallaceburg, Ontario, transmission-parts plant, said Max Gates, a Chrysler spokesman. Chrysler wants to make the transmission parts itself at a plant in Etobicoke, Ontario, he said.

Gates didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment yesterday after business hours.