US: Faurecia to buy Ford car interior factory in Michigan

Bloomberg News (Paris) - Faurecia SA (EO), Europe's largest maker of car interiors, agreed to buy Ford Motor Co. (F)'s car interior factory in Saline, Michigan for an undisclosed amount to increase its market share in the U.S.

The Saline site has $1.1 billion in annual sales from cockpit modules, instrument panels, door panels and center consoles for vehicles assembled at Ford plants, the Paris-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.

The plant is owned by Ford's Automotive Components Holdings unit and makes automotive interiors for vehicles such as the F150. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford will become Faurecia's third-largest customer after Volkswagen AG (VOW) and PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG), the company's majority shareholder.

Faurecia said it will create a Detroit-based joint venture with Rush Group Ltd. Faurecia would own 45 percent of the company, which will make injection molding and assemble interior trim components, according to the statement. Some of the Saline plant's activities will be shifted to the venture, after which the factory will focus on injection molding, skin manufacturing and foam and have annual revenue of about $400 million.

Faurecia's shares rose as much as 3.3 percent to 16.48 euros and was up 2.6 percent at 3:44 p.m. in Paris.