ACH Expects More Plant Sales in Early '07

After spending more than a year fixing up 12 North American parts plants and meeting with potential buyers, Ford Motor Co.'s Automotive Components Holdings LLC announces agreements to sell three of the facilities in a flurry of year-end salesmanship.

In late December, ACH announced deals to sell its fuel-rail manufacturing operations in El Jarudo, Mexico, to Cooper-Standard Automotive, as well as its fascia and fuel-tank operations in Milan, MI, to Flex-N-Gate Forming Technologies LLC.

In early December, ACH announced its first plant sale in a memorandum of understanding with Valeo SA to acquire the Sheldon Road Thermal Systems facility in Plymouth, MI. It supplies air-conditioning units and radiators to Ford in North America.

The deals were good news for Ford, which desperately needs to dispose of expensive assets and raise capital as part of its Way Forward restructuring.

Ford veteran Alex Ver, CEO and chief operating officer of ACH, tells Ward's ACH is close to sealing deals with potential buyers for up to six other plants, likely in the first quarter.

Ford created ACH in October 2005 as a conglomeration of 23 plants and research facilities previously owned by Visteon Corp. Visteon, spun off from Ford as its primary parts maker in 2000, gave the unprofitable facilities back to Ford in 2005.

Two of the 17 original manufacturing plants returned to Ford last year, and three others have closed or are closing soon. That leaves ACH with nine U.S. plants and three Mexican plants to sell. ACH currently has 15,000 employees.