Visteon Corp. said Monday CEO Tim Leuliette will step down by the end of the year.
The Van Buren Township-based supplier's board of directors has retained Chicago-based executive search firm Spencer Stuart & Associates Inc. to find Leuliette's replacement.
Leuliette, 65, has been on Visteon's board since 2010 before becoming president and CEO in 2012, following the departure of Don Stebbins, who stepped down from the role after months of boardroom turmoil. Stebbins had been CEO of Visteon since 2008 and president since 2005.
Leuliette was charged with turning the supplier's financials around. Since spinning off from Ford Motor Co. in 2000, Visteon didn't turn an annual profit before entering bankruptcy in May 2009. It continued with profitability issues following bankruptcy as well.
Since Leuliette's taken over the reins, Visteon has seen a flurry of M&A activity.
In December 2014, Visteon agreed to sell its 70 percent stake in its Korean joint venture Halla Visteon Climate Control to an affiliate of Korean private equity firm Hahn & Co. and Hankook Tire Co. for $3.6 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year.
In November 2014, Visteon completed the largest phase of a deal to transfer its automotive interiors business to Dutch firm Reydel Automotive Holdings BV. Reydel is held by New York private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, former owners of Chrysler.
Visteon also sold its 50 percent stake to in Duckyang Industry Co. Ltd. to Duckyang's management for $24.1 million, or 25.9 billion Korean won, and acquired Johnson Controls Inc.'s Plymouth Township-based electronics business for $265 million last year.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to lead Visteon through our dramatic changes," Leuliette said in a news release. "Given the excellent progress we have made to focus and streamline the company, including the pending sale of our 70 percent ownership stake in HVCC, I believe now is the right time to transition to the next generation of leadership."
Joanne Maguire, retired executive vice president at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., and Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, founder and CEO of Boston-based broadband consulting firm YAS Capital Partners LLC, were placed on the board in January to lead help lead that next generation.