DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford will sell its Automotive Components Holdings interior trim business to a French auto supplier.
Financial terms were not disclosed Thursday. The deal, with the company Faurecia, is expected to close on June 1.
The trim business is the last remaining Automotive Components Holdings operation at Ford's plant in Saline, Mich. Faurecia said the deal makes it North America's No. 1 interior systems supplier and makes Ford its third-largest customer.
The business generates $1.1 billion in annual sales and produces cockpit modules, instrument panels, door panels and center consoles for 12 vehicle programs at eight Ford plants in North America, the French company said.
As part of the agreement, Faurecia and Ford supplier Rush Group Ltd. will form a new joint venture that will do injection molding, assembly and sequencing of interior trim parts.
Nearly all of the effected Automotive Components Holdings workers have been offered jobs and about 500 people are expected to be employed at the joint venture's facility in Detroit, Ford said.
After the deal closes, the Saline plant will focus on injection molding, skin manufacturing and foam operations, Ford said.
The sale will leave Automotive Components Holdings with just two remaining operations, including a climate control business in Plymouth Township, Mich. and a lighting business in Sandusky, Ohio.
Automotive Components Holdings is a collection of plants that Ford has been trying to sell for several years.
The facilities are auto-component operations that Ford reacquired in 2005 from Visteon Corp. as part of a wider bailout agreement for the supplier. Ford spun off Visteon in 2000.
Shares of Ford Motor Co. rose 6 cents to $11.16 in premarket trading.
