General
Visteon Corporation (the “Company” or “Visteon”) is a global supplier of climate, electronics, interiors and lighting systems, modules and components to global automotive original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”). Headquartered in Van Buren Township, Michigan, Visteon has a workforce of approximately 26,000 employees and a network of manufacturing operations, technical centers and joint ventures in every major geographic region of the world. The Company's global diversity allows for effective and efficient support of our customer's needs on a global basis, while leveraging a low cost manufacturing and engineering footprint. The Company's sales for the year ended December 31, 2011 totaled $8.05 billion and were distributed by product group, geographic region, and customer as follows.
The Company was incorporated in Delaware in January 2000 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company (“Ford” or “Ford Motor Company”). Subsequently, Ford transferred the assets and liabilities comprising its automotive components and systems business to Visteon. The Company separated from Ford on June 28, 2000 when all of the Company’s common stock was distributed by Ford to its shareholders.
During the latter part of 2008 and through 2009, weakened economic conditions, largely attributable to the global credit crisis, and erosion of consumer confidence, triggered a global economic recession that negatively impacted the automotive sector. On May 28, 2009, the Company and many of its domestic subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization relief under the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in response to the resulting sudden and severe declines in global automotive production and the related adverse impact on the Company’s cash flows and liquidity. On August 31, 2010, the bankruptcy court entered a confirmation order confirming the plan of reorganization and the Company emerged from bankruptcy on October 1, 2010.
Additional details regarding the status of the Company’s Chapter 11 Proceedings are included herein under Note 3, “Voluntary Reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code,” to the consolidated financial statements included in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The Company’s Industry
The Company operates in the automotive industry, which is cyclical and highly sensitive to general economic conditions. The Company believes that future success in the automotive industry is, in part, dependent on alignment with customers to support their efforts to effectively meet the challenges associated with the following significant trends and developments in the global automotive industry.
The recent global economic recession underscored the need for significant changes in the landscape of the automotive industry, including a greater focus on the entire value chain, profitable and sustainable growth, financial and operational flexibility, investments in new technologies and realization of opportunities in high-growth markets. Following emergence from the Chapter 11 Proceedings, the Company continued its efforts to transform its business portfolio and to rationalize its cost structure including, among other things, the investigation of potential transactions for the sale, merger or other combination of certain businesses.