Released on February 24, 2009

GF Automotive announced it plans to close its diecasting plant in Montreal, Canada, by the end of July, shifting the bulk of its pressure casting operations to its light alloys facility in Suzhou, China.

According to a press release issued by GF Automotive, a corporate group of Georg Fischer Ltd., Schaffhausen, Switzerland, the decision to close the plant was motivated by the deterioration of economic conditions in North America in recent months and was consistent with the review of all GF Automotive sites announced by the company in November 2008.

The Montreal facility generated sales of about $8.5 million in 2008. The automotive industry accounted for about three quarters of those sales.

The move marks GF Automotive’s exit from the region engaged in the North American Free Trade Agreement. All castings sold in the region will now be manufactured in the Chinese facility. The company completed the construction of another plant in China in January 2008. In August of last year, GF Automotive sold its wheel coupling business in an effort to focus on its “core business of automotive casting.”

GF Automotive said it would gradually release the 60 employees currently working at the Montreal plant and avoid any supply interruption for its customers.