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Canadian auto supply giant Linamar Corp. is looking to sell its new and unused gigacasting factory in Welland, Ont.
“We are ... exploring the potential lease or sale of the site to ensure all options are available and to ensure appropriate utilization of the facility,” Linamar spokesperson Andrea Bowman said in a statement to Automotive News Canada. “We remain committed to our innovative Giga technology which is of course the preferred use of the facility.”
A listing on Realtor.ca describes the building as a state-of-the-art 301,329-square-foot (28,000-square-metre) heavy manufacturing or warehousing facility. The listing price is $15.95 per square foot, but it’s unclear clear if that is for lease or purchase.
The factory was built to house three gigacasting presses to make large aluminum structural parts for electric vehicles. Linamar has not disclosed the cost of construction, which was completed in 2024. It’s not known whether Linamar received government money to assist construction.
“We are reassessing our plans in Welland in light of shifting customer and consumer sentiment and demand for the products that were planned to be manufactured there, which did include an EV product,” Bowman said. “We remain optimistic about other potential future use of the site and, amongst other strategies, are actively seeking further customer opportunities to repurpose and fill the facility.”
Bowman didn’t say whether the three presses were installed.
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Linamar Executive Chair Linda Hasenfratz issued investors a warning on a quarterly earnings call in November that the plant, which was scheduled to start up in February, was “unlikely” to contribute to sales in 2025.
“The product for Welland is an electrified vehicle, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the program’s future has been impacted,” she told financial analysts on a conference call, a nod to the industry’s rocky transition to EVs.
Linamar did not disclose its gigacasting customer.
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The plant was expected to employ about 200 people.
“We had not yet begun recruiting at a significant level given timing to launch, so only a modest team was in place,” Bowman said.
As of Feb. 6, the real estate listing was 19 days old. Linamar has removed the plant from a website page that shows its locations.