GM to sell steering firm

[rickaren]

GM to sell steering firm acquired from Delphi

Posted Thursday, Oct 8, 2009, 12:45 pm in Employee News

General Motors Co. plans to sell the steering business it just acquired from parts supplier Delphi, officials said Wednesday, The Detroit News reported.

GM agreed in July to buy back the business as part of $3 billion in financing to help Delphi emerge from bankruptcy, the paper reported. The bulk of Delphi Corp.’s assets were acquired by its lenders and emerged from bankruptcy Tuesday night as Delphi Holdings LLP, the News said.

In a July 30 letter, GM’s Gary Cowger told suppliers the automaker “is not re-entering the components business” but was buying the steering unit “to ensure business viability,” the News said. The new business relaunched Wednesday as Saginaw, Mich.-based Nexteer Automotive. Officials gave employees T-shirts with the new company logo, the story said.

Nexteer will be run as a stand-alone unit with its own board of directors and management team, and GM expects it to be “self-sufficient and self-funding,” the paper said. It has put in place “fire walls” to protect is non-GM customers’ confidential information, the story said. (The Detroit News)