Horizon Global is consolidating its Horizon Global Americas segment facilities in Solon, Ohio, and Mosinee, Wis., into its Plymouth, Mich., location, the company announced via press release late Monday following a query by RV PRO about reports of layoffs and consolidating operations by the towing supplier.
The focus of consolidation is to bring together all roles and responsibilities of Horizon Global Americas team, with the exception of manufacturing and distribution facilities, into a primary location, according to the company. This integration will align areas of the business such as sales, engineering, product development and customer service in order to improve Horizon’s ability to stay close to its customers and deliver solutions and products to meet their performance needs. A letter to the supplier’s board of directors from Marcato Capital Management alludes to the changes Horizon Global should undergo.
The company will be completing the integration over the next several months and several roles will be relocated to the company’s Plymouth location. Horizon Global’s press release didn’t address the subject of layoffs. Speaking confidentially, two sources told RV PRO there were layoffs in April, although a specific number could not be confirmed.
An inquiry with Horizon Global could not either confirm or deny the layoffs.
“The recently announced initiatives to bring together our U.S.-based offices will help ensure that we remain equipped to meet our customers’ performance needs and deliver unique manufacturing and technical solutions,” said Carl Bizon, Horizon Americas’ president. “Having teams like engineering and product development working more closely together aligns with our larger goal to better serve our customers. Bringing our Americas team together is something we have wanted to do for some time now as part of a comprehensive, strategic integration of our brand operations and supporting infrastructure.”
“Horizon Global is a leader in the global towing and trailering industry with the No. 1-branded position,” said Mark Zeffiro, Horizon Global’s president and CEO. “The Horizon Americas team is focused on delivering innovative solutions to meet the needs of our customers, and the new structure of the organization is designed with that in mind. Additionally, bringing the team together in one location will help support our cultural efforts in North Americas as part of our broader global organization.”
In 2015, parent company TriMas spun off the Cequent group of Cequent Performance Products and Cequent Consumer Products under the Cequent Americas umbrella with Horizon Global as the parent company.
At that time, Horizon had about 2,800 employees in 20 facilities around the world.
Horizon brands include Cequent, Reese, Tekonsha, and Bulldog.