Chinese buy Ford subsidiary

Ford Motor Co. agreed to sell a driveshaft manufacturing business to a U.S. affiliate of a Chinese company, Bloomberg News reported today. The business, with about 1,200 employees, is being sold to Neapco LLC, a Pottstown, Pennsylvania-based affiliate of Wanxiang Group, Ford said in a statement. Terms were not disclosed.

The driveshafts, which transfer power from a vehicle's engine to its wheels, are now made at a Monroe plant. Neapco will open a new plant using workers from the Monroe factory, Ford spokeswoman Della DiPietro told Bloomberg in an interview.

The Monroe facility is one that Ford took back from its former unit Visteon Corp. in 2005. The automaker agreed to the transaction to bail out Visteon financially and to ensure a steady supply of parts for its North American auto operations. Detroit News