Five thousand jobs will be cut by Ford Motor Company in its takeover of Visteon - its former parts division. The move will drive average North American wage costs at Visteon down from $38 an hour to $17. About 17,000 Ford employees have been working at Visteon's 24 plants. They're earning UAW assembly wages rather than the lower supplier wages. New hires won't be Ford employees. Under Ford's buyout of Visteon the remaining workers will still be paid assembly wages. Ford spun off Visteon in 2000. UAW members still have to ratify the Ford-Visteon deal. Ford will have to lay out an estimated $1.15 billion in special charges over the next five years plus as much as $425 million to cover operating losses this year and next. As part of the deal Ford also picks up a $2 billion health care and insurance liability from Visteon for Ford employees and retirees. Visteon and Ford were never completely separated and that's one factor in the Standard and Poor's decision to lower Ford's bond rating.