General Motors will fight for equipment from bankrupt supplier

General Motors Co. is making a case for acquiring equipment from an auto parts supplier, whose bankruptcy claims have threatened 19 GM assembly plants in a contract dispute.

Clark-Cutler-McDermott, a family-owned company which supplies parts for cars, filed for bankruptcy last Thursday, citing an unfair deal with General Motors as one of the reasons for the decision.

CCD claim that General Motors has drained $30,000 a day from the company since 2013.

GM have replied by saying that the family business is using the bankruptcy case to avoid contractual repercussions.

“GM will be required to shut down all of its North American plants and suffer immense, immediate economic damages in the tens of millions of dollars,” GM lawyers said. “GM will also suffer immeasurable and irreparable injury to its goodwill and reputation, in addition to the significant disruption of the North American supply chain.”

Like other auto makers, the corporation often has a contractual right to purchase back certain tools or inventory used in production of parts for the cars it builds. Bankruptcy, however, can block a car company’s effort to obtain those assets.