Was Carolina tornado an industry monkey wrench?

Even as automakers aim to resume assembling vehicles in as little as two weeks, some now have a new problem: A critical supplier facility has been knocked out by a tornado.

BorgWarner is scrambling to figure out how to quickly put its South Carolina transfer case factory back together after it was demolished last week.

The plant is the source of transfer cases for the Ford F-150, Toyota's North America-made trucks, some Honda Motor Co. light trucks produced in Lincoln, Ala., and possibly other vehicle lines. BorgWarner declined to identify its customers or say how many models the Seneca, S.C., plant supplied.

The company also declined to comment on the condition of the plant or how long it might take to rebuild. But photos posted online by local employees and vendors show a large industrial center that appears to be significantly damaged and lacking a roof.

The plant's 970 employees make it the largest employer in rural Oconee County, in South Carolina's northwest corner, according to a publication from a county government agency. BorgWarner declined to confirm the employment figure.

A part-time security worker was killed by the hit to the building. BorgWarner had closed the plant because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The disaster punches a significant hole in the supply chain of some automakers as they consider how to restart their own assembly lines following the historic industry interruption. BorgWarner declined to say whether the transfer cases made in Seneca also are produced at another U.S. plant.

A Ford Motor Co. spokeswoman said last week the automaker is working closely with BorgWarner to manage the situation. The matter was addressed in a financial prospectus supplement Ford published at the end of last week,stating that Ford does not know whether the incident "will impact our plans to resume production of four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles."

Ford said the damage could hamper the return of production for the four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions of the F-150, Expedition, Super Duty, Explorer and Transit and the Lincoln Navigator and Aviator.

Officials at Toyota Motor North America declined to comment on the situation, referring questions to BorgWarner.

BorgWarner spokeswoman Michelle Collins said last week assessment teams are examining the site, but it is still too early to know how severely damaged the building and its machinery are, how long it might take to rebuild or even what contingency steps might be taken to produce the transfer cases elsewhere if the industry attempts to resume vehicle manufacturing before the South Carolina factory can be rebuilt.

To add to the challenge, BorgWarner is limited in the assistance it can put on the site right now. The company’s headquarters is in suburban Detroit, and Michigan residents are under a state-issued shelter-in-place order. That is preventing the company from dispatching teams from Michigan to assist with the emergency.

As a result, the plant’s local management is handling the crisis, Collins said. Local civil engineers and third-party response teams are examining the wreckage to determine what might be salvaged.

Much of the plant’s tooling might be salvageable once the building wreckage is cleared away, said an individual who viewed the site and asked not to be identified.

If that assessment is accurate, it would mean the primary task ahead for BorgWarner’s recovery team would be quickly erecting a building around the existing production lines.

The Seneca plant has been a fast-growing operation for BorgWarner. In a trajectory that mirrors the expansion of four-wheel-drive light truck sales in the U.S. market, BorgWarner invested about $25 million at the plant in 2013, $13 million in 2015 and $72 million more in 2017.