Ford Motor Co. announced on 15 September restructuring plans with a 2008 deadline to sell off or close 14 Visteon Corp. plants that were taken over in 2005.
In October 2005, Ford took back 17 plants…
Ford Motor Co. announced on 15 September restructuring plans with a 2008 deadline to sell off or close 14 Visteon Corp. plants that were taken over in 2005. In October 2005, Ford took back 17 plants from Visteon, in a deal that was aimed at making the supplier profitable and ensuring a stable flow of parts to the automaker. Ford also created a subsidiary, Automotive Components Holdings LLC, for the plants and for six non-manufacturing facilities that it also took back. Since the transfer, two ACH plants in Washtenaw County“s Ypsilanti Township and Sterling Heights, have been incorporated back into Ford. A plant in Macomb County“s Chesterfield Township closed in June, while plants near Kansas City, Missouri, and in Ypsilanti are also scheduled to close – the first in December and the second after autumn 2007. This means that there are another 12 to sell, along with the six other sites, which include research, testing and storage facilities. “We“re in serious discussions with a number of buyers,” ACH spokeswoman Della DiPietro said Friday. She would not say which plants those talks involved. Ford chief financial officer Don Leclair said during a conference call that the cash proceeds from selling the former Visteon facilities would be “fairly small.” An analyst with Grand Rapids-based automotive consulting company IRN Inc., Erich Merkle, said finding buyers is not likely to be easy. “The reason they got put into (ACH) in the first place is Visteon was having a real tough time making money off them,” he said. He said the plants involved make low-tech components that are essential but do not add much value to vehicles. ACH manufactures glass, steering parts instrument panels, heating and air conditioning, door trim and headlights, DiPietro said. An important issue in the sale is finding a buyer that will keep Ford supplied. “The book of business is part of the package. These are folks that we are going to have a relationship with going forward,” DiPietro said. The remaining 12 plants are located in or near Milan, Michigan; Monroe, Michigan; Plymouth, Michigan; Saline, Michigan; Utica, Michigan; Indianapolis; Nashville, Tennessee; Sandusky, Ohio; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; and two plants in Juarez, Mexico.