Visteon Says It Won't Meet Targets

Tuesday, September 26th 2006, 8:49 am

By: News On 6

VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) _ Auto-parts supplier Visteon Corp. said Tuesday it would not meet its financial targets for the rest of the year because of production cuts by automakers and other factors.

Shares of the company fell 42 cents, or 5 percent, to $8.03 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Visteon, the former parts arm of Ford Motor Co., said it currently expects second-half product sales to be about 10 percent lower than its first-half product sales of $5.7 billion. The company did not say whether it still expects to earn a profit for the year.

In August, the company predicted an adjusted profit for 2006 in the range of $170 million to $200 million, with product sales of about $11 billion.

All U.S. automakers have slashed production recently in response to waning consumer interest in the sport utility vehicles and pickups that dominate their lineups. Visteon attributed its gloomier outlook to those cuts and to the marketplace shift toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Visteon, based in Van Buren Township, Mich., said it would discuss how it plans to respond to the changes and update its financial outlook for 2006 when it releases third-quarter results in October.