Visteon, Ford agree new deal: 23 plants to transfer to Ford

Van Buren Township, Michigan-Interiors supplier Visteon Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have signed agreements on their new business arrangement, which will see 23 Visteon units transfer to Automotive Components Holdings lllc, a legal entity managed by Ford. The deal will "increase Visteon's competitiveness by streamlining and improving the cost structure of its North American operations," said a Visteon statement. It closely follows the scheme announced by the two companies on 25 May.US anti-trust and union approvals for the transaction have been gained, and the two firms expect the transaction to close 1 Oct.The deal includes Visteon's interiors plant at Saline, Michigan, where part of the facility is devoted to reaction injection moulding of urethane components, as well as its seating foam plant at Chesterfield Township, Michigan. Some 5000 Visteon employees in North America will transfer to Automotive Components Holdings, and Visteon's revenue will drop from $18 700 million in 2004 to what the firm calls "a leaner, more competitive $11 400 million in 2005. "