From Detroit Free Press
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. wants its biggest supplier to get healthy, but it’s up to Visteon Corp. to figure out how to make that happen, said Jim Padilla, Ford’s COO.
Spun off by Ford in 2000, Visteon has not made an annual profit since that year. It lost $1.36 billion in the third quarter and has indicated it is looking for Ford to help, as it did in late 2003. At that time, Ford agreed to take $1.65 billion of Visteon’s retiree obligations, pay bills sooner and help buy a new computer system. In exchange, Visteon paid Ford $150 million and accepted steeper than normal price cuts for four years.
Padilla said Ford wants to help, but the matter is really one for Visteon to handle itself, because the two companies are independent. “We will be as constructive as is reasonable . . . . but Visteon is its own company with its own obligations,” he said.
Copyright 2004 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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