Breaking: Auto parts manufacturer lays off 41 in Harlingen as Matamoros shutdown unfolds

An automotive parts manufacturer winding down operations across North America, including in Matamoros, announced Thursday it is also laying off 41 employees at its Harlingen facility. 

Cardone Industries is part of a corporate wind-down announced Monday by its parent company, First Brands Group. First Brands filed for bankruptcy in September 2025. 

Cardone is also laying off 88 employees at a facility in Arlington, Texas. 

In Mexico, it was not immediately clear how many workers would lose their jobs. At its peak, Cardone employed 3,000 people in Matamoros under the Tridonex brand. 

Dozens of workers have been picketing outside the Matamoros maquila this week, seeking answers about their labor contract as the operation shuts down. 

Here’s what we know about its wind-down in Matamoros.

Harlingen layoffs

Most of the layoffs in Harlingen happened abruptly on Monday, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act letter. 

Typically, WARN notices must be filed at least 60 days before mass layoffs begin, but the company argued that it did not anticipate running out of money so quickly. 

“For the past several months, the company has been actively seeking additional financing that it reasonably believed could be obtained and would have been sufficient to avoid or postpone this shutdown,” First Brands Chief Financial Officer Paul Kosturos wrote in the WARN letter. 

The letter indicated the layoffs would be carried out in two phases; 33 people were laid off on Monday, and the remaining employees will lose their jobs on March 27.

The types of jobs eliminated included material handlers, warehouse workers, a plant manager, quality control inspectors, sorters, and managers. 

Some of those employees are represented by the Plastic Workers Union, Local No. 18, according to the letter. 

South Texas presence 

Cardone Industries was founded in 1970 in Philadelphia and grew into one of the world’s largest automotive parts suppliers.

In 2009, it moved into the old Fruit of the Loom factory in Harlingen. 

In 2017, Cardone said it planned to invest $50 million in a new 920,000-square-foot distribution center at the Harlingen Industrial Park and hire more than 1,000 workers by 2027, but the plans were scrapped the following year, citing “internal issues.” 

Cardone also once operated a sorting center in Brownsville but laid off 183 workers there in 2020, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic shutdown. 

The company was then sold to First Brands Group in 2023. 

It’s not immediately clear what Cardone will do with the warehouse near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 106 and Farm-to-Market Road 509 in Harlingen. Cameron County Appraisal District records indicate the company retained ownership.