The automotive parts manufacturer, Visteon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company, has opened a £300,000 (#426,000) purpose-built centre at its Northern Ireland plant to test and develop new parts for the car industry.

Visteon was the name given to Ford's existing parts manufacturing operation last year as part of a reorganisation of the company's business worldwide. The target is to generate sales to non-Ford customers equivalent to 20 per cent of its total turnover. The Visteon plant employs 650 people in Dunmurry, south of Belfast, making oil and water pumps, fuel injection assemblies, and throttle bodies.

(# signifies the euro)