From Detroit Free Press

VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, MI -- Ford Motor Co. is waiting for Visteon Corp., the automaker's former parts unit, to decide on revamping its business before discussing any help for the supplier, chief executive Bill Ford said.

Visteon needs "to decide strategically what businesses they want to be in," Bill Ford told reporters after a speech Wednesday in Washington. After that, "we're willing to sit down with them and to say where we can be helpful. But we're not Santa Claus," he said.

Visteon, the second-biggest U.S. maker of auto parts, said Sept. 9 that it was seeking more changes in the agreement from the 2000 spin-off. The parts company got about two-thirds of its third-quarter revenue from Ford. The automaker has about 18,000 workers at Visteon plants, with the parts supplier reimbursing the automaker for wages and benefits.

"We are exploring strategic and structural changes in our U.S. businesses," said Kim Welch, a spokeswoman for Van Buren Township, Mich.-based Visteon. She declined to be more specific.

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