Ford Motor Co. and Visteon Corp. agreed on plants transference

Ford Motor Co. and auto-parts maker Visteon Corp. said Tuesday they have reached definitive agreements to transfer unprofitable plants back to the automaker.

The transfer of 17 plants and six offices, research centers and other facilities in the U.S. and Mexico to Ford, Visteon's former parent is expected to take place on Oct. 1, the companies said in a statement.

Completion of the agreement clears the way for a temporary, Ford-managed business entity, Automotive Components Holdings LLC, to take control of the plants and other facilities. Visteon expects to assign about 5,000 salaried employees to the new company, which also will take on about 18,000 hourly employees now working in Visteon facilities and about 70 Ford salaried employees, the AP says.

Ford eventually expects to buy out 5,000 hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers.

Visteon has failed to make a profit nearly every year since it was spun off from Ford five years ago. The second-largest U.S. auto supplier reported $18.7 billion (Ђ15.23 billion) in revenue and $1.5 billion (Ђ1.22 billion) in losses last year.

Visteon said in reporting second-quarter results last month that it was recording a charge of $900 million (Ђ733.14 million), reflecting the reduced value of fixed assets related to the facilities being transferred to Ford. Visteon also recorded a charge of about $250 million (Ђ203.65 million) in the second quarter to write down certain noncore fixed assets, primarily in Europe.

Shares of Visteon fell 17 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $10.69 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where for the past 52 weeks they have traded in a range from $3.14 to $10.89.