Beset by slow sales and serious financial hardship, Azure Dynamics, a maker of electric and hybrid trucks, has declared bankruptcy and shut down most of its operations.


Azure closed its Oak Park, Mich., operations on Monday and laid off its 55 employees, plus another 65 elsewhere, published reports say. Its corporate headquarters in Burnaby, B.C., Canada, remains open, but TruckingInfo's staff was unable to contact anyone there by phone for comment.

At Oak Park, near Detroit, Azure produced powertrains for the Ford Transit Connect Electric, using rolling chassis produced by Ford in Turkey. It also made a hybrid-electric conversion for Ford's E-450 truck and bus chassis.

But sales numbered only in the hundreds and the company reportedly lost at least $17.7 million in 2010 and $26.1 million in the first nine months of 2011.

Last week the Ontario Securities Commission refused to approve the company's plans for a stock offering, and Azure responded by seeking bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S.

Four asset management firms had invested money in Azure. One is an arm of Johnson Controls, which supplied vehicle batteries from a plant in Michigan.

Azure will restructure with the goal of resuming operations, a company official told the Detroit Free Press. The operation in British Columbia will continue supporting vehicles already in the field.