Visteon Corporation (VC) is an American global
automotive electronics
Automotive electronics are electronic systems used in vehicles, including engine management, ignition, radio, carputers, telematics, in-car entertainment systems, and others. Ignition, engine and transmission electronics are also found in truc ...
supplier and
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
company spun off from the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
in 2000. Visteon is composed of multiple businesses that design, engineer, and manufacture vehicle
cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that e ...
electronics products and connected car services
for a diversified customer base, including all of the major automakers worldwide.
Introduction
Visteon is a spinoff from the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
, as
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...
is from
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
. In 2017, Visteon had sales of US$3.146 billion and approximately 10,000 employees at more than 40 facilities in 18 countries. Since its independence from Ford, Visteon has set a corporate goal of expanding business with other companies, and now has a diversified customer base, working with all of the major automakers worldwide.
Visteon's market share, market and revenue have changed substantially since it formed. A majority of revenue (80+%) came from North America, driven by its relationship with Ford Motor Company. Today, its revenue comes predominantly from Asia, North America, and Europe. In 2005, Visteon moved to new headquarters in
Van Buren Township, Michigan
Van Buren Charter Township, officially the Charter Township of Van Buren, is a charter township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 28,821 at the 2010 census.
Van Buren Charter Township surrounds the city of Bell ...
.
Business
Initially, Visteon participated in three main divisions: climate, electronics, and interior systems. With the sale of its equity interest in the Climate operations in mid-year 2015 and completed sale of its interiors business in 2016, Visteon re-focused on the high-growth cockpit electronics business with a focus on software and the connected car. In 2015, Visteon introduced
Sachin Lawande as the new president and CEO.
Operations
The company has three corporate offices reflecting the company's key markets.
* North American Corporate Office and Innovation Center, Van Buren Township, Michigan, United States.
* Asia Pacific Corporate Office and Innovation Center, Shanghai, China
* European Corporate Office, Chelmsford, United Kingdom.
Products
Automotive Cockpit Electronics
* Instrument clusters
* Head-up displays
* Information display
* Audio systems
* Telematics
* SmartCore™ cockpit domain controllers
* Embedded multimedia
* Connectivity
Audio and Infotainment
* Audio head units
*
Infotainment
Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of inf ...
**
Visteon Dockable Entertainment
* Connectivity services
* Audio components
Vehicle Electronics
* Body, security and feature controllers
*
Powertrain control
* High voltage/ Low voltage power control
* Domain controllers
Information and Controls
*
Instrument clusters
* Displays
*
ADAS
*
Heads Up Displays
* Climate control heads
* Decorative control panels
Restructuring
On September 13, 2005, Visteon and Ford reached an agreement whereby seventeen of the less-profitable Visteon plants and six offices would be transferred to an independent business entity called
Automotive Components Holdings
Automotive Components Holdings, LLC (informally ACH) is a Ford Motor Company-managed temporary business formed by the 2005 transfer of 17 automotive components factories and six research, testing and other facilities from Visteon Corporation to ...
LLC. This action, intended to assure the long-term viability of Visteon, involved the transfer of 18,000 hourly workers and 5000 salaried workers to the new entity, reducing Visteon to approximately 52,000 employees worldwide and US$11 billion in annual sales. Three of the plants are in Mexico, the remaining plants and six offices are in the US. Automotive Components Holdings (ACH), managed by Ford, was referred to as a "temporary entity", as its purpose was to prepare the plants and facilities for sale. By the end of 2007, all ACH operations had been closed, scheduled for closure, merged at least partially, or sold (two back to Ford), with transactions to be completed by the end of 2008 except for one plant which is to remain an ACH facility until its closure in 2009.
On March 31, 2009, Visteon's UK subsidiary was deemed insolvent, and placed into
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
. The UK subsidiary had never been profitable, and the insolvency was the result of the US parent company being unwilling to continue to support the British operation. The administrators,
KPMG
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.
Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
, immediately moved to close all three Visteon UK factories and made 565 workers redundant. Visteon's profitable UK subsidiary Visteon Engineering Services (VES) remained unaffected by the restructuring.
As a result, workers occupied the plants in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Enfield, London and picketed the plant in Basildon, Essex, to gain better redundancy packages.
Bankruptcy and emergence
The
Subprime mortgage crisis
The United States subprime mortgage crisis was a multinational financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2010 that contributed to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It was triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the col ...
greatly impacted the auto industry and left Visteon with little demand. During early March 2009, Visteon was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange for trading at extremely low levels. This action came after Visteon shares dropped from 7 to 2 cents. On May 28, 2009, the company filed voluntary petitions to reorganize Visteon Corporation and certain of its U.S. subsidiaries under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The case was heard in
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...
on May 29, 2009, by Judge Christopher Sontchi, where Visteon was granted Chapter 11 protection.
Visteon completed its reorganization and emerged from Chapter 11 on October 1, 2010.
Acquisitions
In July 2014, Visteon acquired
Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls International is an American
Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in around 2,00 ...
electronics division for $265 Million. In July 2016, Visteon acquired AllGo Embedded Systems Pvt Ltd.
References
{{Authority control
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Manufacturing companies established in 2000
Manufacturing companies based in Michigan
Auto parts suppliers of the United States
Companies based in Wayne County, Michigan
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009
Corporate spin-offs