Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday plans to sell its Automotive Components Holdings (ACH) Glass Operations and its plants in Nashville, Tenn., and Tulsa, Okla., and its subsidiary Vidriocar in Juarez, Mexico, to Glass Products, based in Tulsa.
Approximately 1,600 are employed by Ford's Glass Operations.
ACH Glass Operations supplies architectural glass, original equipment and aftermarket glass for Ford cars and trucks, and aftermarket glass for other manufacturer's vehicles. In 2006, the Operations supplied original equipment glass for nearly 2.7 million vehicles.
According to Mark Fields, Ford's President of The Americas, the sale will help the company to achieve its commitment to reduce overall operating costs by $5 billion by the end of 2008.
As of this sale agreement, ACH has now sold one business and has signed agreements for the sale of four others. Recently, The ACH fuel rail business and its El Jarudo subsidiary were sold. Negotiations are continuing in relation to the climate control business and the Sheldon Road plant near Plymouth, Mich.; the fascia and fuel tank businesses and the Milan, Mich. plant; and the ACH propshaft business, which currently is one of the products produced at a Monroe, Mich., facility.
ACH is a temporary company established by Ford to ensure the flow of components and systems while preparing the automotive component operations for sale or idling.