ACH Adds 400 Jobs

Utica's loss is Saline's gain.

by Vickie Elmer

posted 1/27/2010

As other automakers close plants and shed jobs, the Automotive Component Holdings plant in Saline has been adding them. Since the start of 2009, the former Visteon/Ford parts plant has taken on more than 400 people, bringing its workforce to more than 2,000. Some are new hires, while others transferred from another ACH plant in Utica, Michigan, that closed in May.

Both plants made dashboards and other interior components for Ford trucks and cars. Now that work has been consolidated in Saline, says Delia DiPietro, a spokeswoman for ACH.

DiPietro says ACH, a Ford subsidiary, has invested more than $24 million in new equipment in Saline this year. When it was created in 2005, ACH was supposed to exist just long enough to sell Ford's former parts plants to new owners. DePietro says that's still the long-term plan for the Saline facility. But in the meantime, the company is maintaining production for Ford--and hoping the new work and investment will eventually make the plant more attractive to prospective buyers.   

[Originally published in January, 2010.]