BY ANDREA HOLECEK, Times of Northwest Indiana
holecek@nwitimes.com
219.933.3316
CHICAGO | Visteon Corp. has informed the almost 300 hourly and salaried employees at its plant in the Ford Manufacturing Campus that it plans to close the facility by June.
"We have told our employees of a tentative conclusion to close that plant," said Visteon spokesman Jim Fisher. "The final decision is dependent on discussions with the union."
The company notified employees of the projected closing earlier this month and has issued a Warren Act notice, Fisher said. It plans to begin phasing out operations and employees in February and close by June.
The 215,000-square-foot Visteon Chicago Plant opened in 2003 as part of the supplier park for the Ford Chicago Assembly Plant to produce parts for the new models -- the Ford 500, Ford Freestyle and Mercury Montego -- to be made at the nearby Ford plant.
Located at 12429 S. Burley Ave., the plant occupies a portion of the two huge, multi-tenant buildings on the supplier park's 155 acres, sharing the space with Yazaki, Brose, Lear and Chicago Park Plastics.
"As a result of certain business factors, there is no longer a sustainable business case to continue operating the plant," Fisher said. "We are in a very competitive business, and when a plant has no business case, Visteon is committed to taking quick action."
The "main driver" for Visteon's decision is Ford's plan to discontinue using it as the source of the fuel tanks for the automobiles made at the local assembly plant one-half mile to the west, Fisher said.
"When customers adjust production volumes, we do the same thing as any tier one supplier," Fisher said. "We, as a company, focus on electronics, climate and interiors. Those are our core products and that's where we're focusing the bulk of our resources. Fuel tanks are not a core Visteon product."
Visteon Corp. was spun off by Ford in 2000. Once the plant closes, the fuel tanks will be sourced from Automotive Components Holdings. Through mutual agreement, Ford established ACH as a temporary company in October 2005 to close or sell as number of former Visteon facilities. The Chicago Visteon plant is not included in the agreement.
"Ford and Visteon agreed it was in the best interest of both companies to support the restructuring of the ACH facilities and make the operations more attractive to potential buyers," Robin Pannecouk, spokeswoman for ACH. "ACH is taking the fuel tanks and will manufacture them in our Milan plant."
The automobile cockpit module assemblies (instrument panels), which the Chicago Visteon plant produces for the assembly plant, are going to be sourced from an ACH plant in Utica, Mich., Pannecouk said.
The Chicago Visteon facility's 260 hourly workers are represented by United Auto Workers Amalgamated Local 3212. Anthony Beaver, union representative for the facility, couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
"The closing is in no way related to the performance of employees," Fisher said. "It's based on business and sourcing factors. Visteon intends to offer separation benefits to hourly employees. Specifics are subject to negotiation. Some salaried employees may have the opportunity to move to other plants."