Wanxiang, China's largest car-parts maker, is in talks with Ford to buy assets from the US carmaker's troubled components arm, the Financial Times reported. Lu Guanqiu, founder and chairman of Wanxiang, said the talks are part of a plan to expand the company's global presence, but did not say which assets are being considered or whether a deal is imminent. The assets under discussion involve Automotive Components Holdings, a group of 17 plants and six other facilities that Ford took control of last year as part of the bail-out of Visteon, a parts maker spun off by Ford in 2000. Ford plans to sell or close all ACH facilities. An "established" North American parts maker would give Wanxiang, which already supplies GM and Ford, a sales and distribution network. China's exports of car parts rose 75% last year to US$15.2 billion and grew a further 38% in the first two quarters of this year.
Categories