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News of  March 28, 2001

Visteon at Palmela 

Palmela, Portugal - Visteon Corporation has three main manufacturing operations at its state-of-the-art Palmela manufacturing facility in Portugal: climate control, electronics and plastics.

Visteon has had a major presence in Palmela since 1991, when the electronics plant was first established as Ford Electronica Portuguesa, following an investment of $120 million (USD).  Today, with nearly 1,700 people employed by the plant, Visteon is one of the largest employers in the area.

The 82,100-square-meter electronics plant produces in-vehicle radio cassettes, power amplifiers, CD systems, electronic air bag modules, instrument clusters, electronic temperature control modules, voice activated control modules, air handling and heater valve control modules.  Nearly six million units are produced annually at the plant for OEMs such as Fiat Auto, Ford, Nissan, Jaguar, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.

The compressor plant was opened in 1998 with an investment of $150 million (USD).  The plant's opening brought nearly 300 new jobs to the area in addition to the 1,700 jobs that existed at the Palmela site. Currently, the 18,150-square-meter scroll compressor plant employs 350 people.

In addition to the scroll compressor plant, the plastics operation at Palmela was launched in 1997 and represented an investment of approximately $5.8 million (USD) for the company.  The operation currently uses three 1,000- ton capacity injection-molding machines and four 300-ton capacity machines.

The plastics operation supplies all of the air handling components for the Sharan (VW), Galaxy (Ford) and Alhambra (SEAT) vehicles, all of which are manufactured at the AutoEuropa plant (VW Group).

In keeping with Visteon's corporate commitment to quality, Visteon's Palmela plant has been recognised for its quality efforts with several certifications.  For example, the Palmela facility was the first plant ever to earn Ford's highly coveted Q1 rating on its inaugural inspection.  Since then, the plant has gained accreditation under international quality standards ISO9001 and ISO14001, as well as the new quality standard TS16949.

Other quality-related awards the Palmela facility has received include the "Best Use of National Resources Electricity of Portugal," and recently the "Best Company in Portugal" for its safety practices, by the Portuguese insurance company, Bonanca.

(March 26, 2001)

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