Visteon CEO Timothy Leuliette to Step Down

By Angela Chen 

Visteon Corp. said Monday that Chief Executive Timothy Leuliette would leave the company by the end of the year and the board has hired an executive-search firm to find a successor.

Visteon, based in Van Buren Township, Mich., was founded by Ford Motor Co. and spun out of the auto maker in 2000. It filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2009 during the crisis in the auto industry but exited court 16 months later.

Mr. Leuliette became CEO in 2012 and helped reinvent Visteon as an electronics company, instead of its traditional role as a multi-business auto supplier.

Chairman Francis M. Scricco praised Mr. Leuliette for completing the transition almost a year ahead of schedule.

"Given the excellent progress we have made to focus and streamline the company, including the pending sale of our 70% ownership stake in HVCC, I believe now is the right time to transition to the next generation of leadership," said Mr. Leuliette.

In 2013, under Mr. Leuliette, Visteon acquired the electronics business of Johnson Controls Inc. Last May, Visteon reached a deal to sell the majority of its global automotive-interiors business to an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management LP.

It is now selling its 70% ownership stake in Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp. to an affiliate of South Korea-based private-equity firm Hahn Co. and Hankook Tire Co., in a deal valued at about $3.6 billion.

Shares, inactive premarket, have increased about 18% in the past 12 months through Friday's close.

Write to Angela Chen at [e-mail]

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