US glass and auto parts producer Visteon Corp. swung to a wider-than-expected loss in the third quarter amid a sharp sales decline, hampered by lower vehicle production from Ford Motor Co., its main customer. The auto-parts supplier, which was spun off by Ford last year, reported a net loss of US$ 95 million, or 74 cents a basic share, compared with a year-earlier profit of US$ 48 million, or 37 cents a share. Results in the latest quarter included a US$ 21 million charge related to the voluntary retirement and separation programmes offered to hourly employees located at its Nashville Glass plant. The programmes resulted in the retirement of about 245 employees. Excluding the charge, Visteon lost US$ 74 million, or 57 cents a share. That was steeper than the loss of 49 cents a share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call. Visteon"s sales fell 15% to US$ 3.72 billion from US$ 4.4 billion, primarily because of lower revenue from Ford.