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DETROIT, June 19 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has terminated a deal to sell an auto lighting plant it took back from former subsidiary Visteon Corp (VC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the company that had been scheduled to take over the plant said on Thursday.

Meridian Automotive Systems said Ford had terminated a tentative agreement to transfer the Sandusky, Ohio, lighting plant because the downturn in U.S. auto sales no longer made the deal possible on the original terms.

Ford reached an agreement to sell the lighting business to privately held Meridian Automotive, based in Allen Park, Michigan, a year ago. Terms were not disclosed.

Ford had said the deal was contingent on reaching a contract with the United Auto Workers that would reduce operating costs at the plant.

The now-terminated sale had been part of a push by the automaker to unload the money-losing assets of its former Visteon subsidiary.

Over the past 18 months, Ford has announced a series of deals to sell off plants it took back from Visteon as part of a bailout that was completed in 2005.

Ford created a temporary holding company known as Automotive Components Holdings for the plants that it took back from Visteon.

The U.S. auto market has weakened by a wider margin than Ford projected this year, forcing the No. 2 U.S. automaker to abandon a goal of returning to profitability in 2009.

Ford sales dropped 12 percent through May. Analysts expect June sales to be the weakest of the year as consumers shun trucks and SUVs in favor of more fuel-efficient cars.

Ford relies on sales of light trucks, including the market-leading F Series pickup trucks, for about 64 percent of its sales in the U.S. market, the world's largest.

The ACH plant in Sandusky makes lights, including front and rear turn signal and brake lights, that are used on about 60 percent of Ford's vehicle line-up in North America.