Business news digest

OHIO

Workshops to teach how to save energy in home

COLUMBUS — The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel is offering free weatherization workshops around the state. The workshops are available to audiences of 30 or more people, including community groups, senior centers and service organizations.

Through the workshops, consumers can learn how to lower their utility bills by using low-cost or no-cost energy-saving tips in their homes. Installing plastic on windows, weather stripping, a door sweep and a programmable thermostat are among the components of the program.

For more information, call (877) 742-5622.

WORLD

Slow auto sales cause Delphi shutdown in China

SHANGHAI, China — U.S. car parts maker Delphi Corp. has suspended work at a factory in Suzhou due to shrinking demand amid the global economic slump, a media report and a staff member said Monday.

The factory west of Shanghai in the city of Suzhou makes compressors for General Motors Corp. Calls to the plant rang unanswered Monday.

“The sudden and unprecedented decline in [car] sales globally has resulted in our only customer, General Motors North America, announcing plant closures and plant stoppages,” the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post quoted a Delphi internal document as saying.

NATION

Investor sells Ford shares

DETROIT — Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has sold his remaining shares in Ford Motor Co., according to a spokeswoman for his investment company Tracinda Corp.

Kerkorian’s jettisoning of Ford comes just six months after Tracinda boosted its stake in the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker to 6.49 percent.

The move was announced shortly after Kerkorian met with Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Executive Chairman Bill Ford to discuss the company’s turnaround plan.

From Vindicator staff and wire reports