Shock absorber manufacturer Tenneco, better known by the brand name Monroe, is set to lay off 120 employees at its Sint-Truiden plant – 101 manual workers and 19 white-collar staff. The dismissals would reportedly be phased from September 2026 until the end of 2027.
The announcement had been anticipated for some time, but the company confirmed its intention on Wednesday during a special works council meeting. Moreover, the announcement comes barely a week before the collective leave period begins.
Difficulties
The reason for the layoffs is the ongoing slump in the international automotive market. The automotive sector is currently facing significant difficulties, which naturally impact production in Sint-Truiden.
There are high labor costs and, of course, cutthroat competition from China. Furthermore, the electrification of the vehicle fleet is proceeding more slowly than expected, causing the sector to lag.
Negotiations on a social plan will begin in the coming weeks. During these talks, the trade unions will attempt to limit the number of redundancies further.
Tire-pump company
The Monroe brand dates back to 1916 in Monroe, Michigan, when it was initially a tire-pump company. Monroe became part of Tenneco in 1977. Sint-Truiden is historically important because Monroe opened its Belgian plant there in 1964.
In 2024, the factory celebrated its 60th anniversary. It now covers about 54,000 m² and has supplied components to OEMs and customers across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond. Customers include Daimler, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, PACCAR/DAF/Leyland, Scania, Volvo Group, Volkswagen Group, and McLaren.
Cost-reduction plans
Sint-Truiden already faced restructuring during the previous European automotive downturn. In 2013, Tenneco announced a broader European cost-reduction plan; the 2026 plan appears to be another step in a long pattern: keep higher-value, more automated work in Sint-Truiden, but reduce labor-intensive production when volumes and margins are under pressure.
Shock absorbers will not disappear with electrification. EVs still need dampers, and heavier premium EVs can even increase demand for advanced suspension, noise/vibration control, and electronic damping.
The real problem is more complex: weak European vehicle production, high costs, overcapacity, and the question of where global suppliers allocate new programs.
Monroe’s Sint-Truiden plant helped put Limburg on the European automotive-supplier map. Sixty years later, it is still part of Tenneco’s advanced suspension network. Still, the jobs are being squeezed by weak European volumes, high costs, and the global shift of new investment toward faster-growing regions such as China.
