VC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Visteon Corp. plans to sell a Highland Park factory that employs 330 people to make door trim and cockpit parts as it shrinks its automotive interior business in North America as part of its bankruptcy restructuring.
The plans are part of deal that Visteon reached with the Chrysler Group, according to court filings.
Chrysler has agreed to pay the supplier at least $31 million in exchange for Visteon's cooperation in moving the business now at the Highland Park plant and another Visteon factory in Saltillo, Mexico to another supplier.
The Saltillo plant employs 170 people and makes the same interior parts for the Dodge Ram as the Highland Park plant.
It's unclear what will happen to those Visteon plants after the business is moved.
Chrysler will be responsible for finding another supplier to take over the contracts, and has the right to buy the equipment, which it could move to another plant, or it could find a supplier to take over the existing plant and equipment. Chrysler has until March to make a decision.
Visteon's deal with Chrysler is similar to one the supplier recently reached with General Motors Co.
GM plans to pay the supplier more than $30 million to move some of its Visteon contracts for fuel tanks and interiors to other suppliers. That deal will lead to the sale or closure of Visteon's plants in Springfield, Ohio, and Eureka, Mo.
In a court filing last week, Ford Motor Co. said Visteon has been in talks with its four largest customers -- GM, Chrysler, Ford and Nissan -- to give up contracts as it exits certain businesses.
"We've been in the process of addressing non-competitive, or unprofitable product lines," said Visteon spokesman Jim Fisher. Visteon plans to focus its future business on climate control, electronics and interiors, but scale back its interiors business in North America.
Visteon is in talks with Nissan about four of Visteon's interior parts plants in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama.
Contact JEWEL GOPWANI: 313-223-4550 or jgopwani@freepress.com
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