A123 confirms Wanxiang wins bid for bankrupt battery maker NEW YORK (Reuters) - China's largest maker of auto parts won an auction for A123 Systems Inc (AONEQ.PK), a bankrupt maker of batteries for electric cars that was funded partly with U.S. government money, A123 confirmed in a statement Sunday. Wanxiang Group Corp's bid of $256.6 million topped a joint bid from Johnson Controls Inc (JCI.N) of Milwaukee and Japan's NEC Corp (6701.T) for the maker of lithium-ion batteries. The sale did not include A123's Michigan-based government business that works with the U.S. Defense Department, which was instead sold to Navitas Systems for $2.25 million, A123 said. Wanxiang's winning bid came only one day after the Canadian government approved a controversial deal allowing China's state-owned oil company CNOOC (0883.HK) to buy energy company Nexen Inc (NXY.TO) for $15.1 billion. Reporting By Edward McAllister; Editing by Diane Craft