Barnes Group Inc. said Thursday it’s shutting its Engineered Components plant in Bristol, employing 95 workers, in response to declining production of gasoline-powered cars, inflation and supply chain problems. Pictured here, Tesla cars line up at charging stations at a dealership in Littleton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) (David Zalubowski/AP)

Barnes Group Inc. said Thursday it’s shutting its Engineered Components plant in Bristol, employing 95 workers, in response to declining production of gasoline-powered cars, inflation and supply chain problems.

The plant serves the U.S. automotive industry and focuses on manufacturing, stamping and assembly of legacy transmission springs and washers. Barnes cited a decline in U.S. powertrain automotive production “as manufacturers increase their electric vehicle models.”

It said it decided to close the Bristol operations “to make Engineered Components more efficient and cost competitive.”

Work performed at the plant will be transferred to other Engineered Components manufacturing locations or permanently discontinued. The shutdown is expected to be completed by mid-2023.

Sales of new light-duty plug-in electric vehicles, including all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, nearly doubled from 308,000 in 2020 to 608,000 in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s a small number compared with traditional gasoline-powered cars, but the number keeps rising as car manufacturers increasingly invest in electric vehicle production lines and government at the state and federal levels encourage production with tax benefits for car buyers and higher emissions rules.

Electric vehicle sales grew by 85% from 2020 to 2021, while sales of plug-in hybrids more than doubled, with an increase of 138% over the previous year, the Energy Department reported.

Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.