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Ford to Cut 14,000 North American Jobs
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| kabelicious |
We all knew this could happen.....I think I might have left Michigan just in time - the trickle down effect from this is going to be VERY profound. I fear for my beloved D.
Ford to cut 14,000 salaried jobs as part of its restructuring plan
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
Highlights of plan
Highlights of job cuts and plant closings announced Friday by Ford Motor Co. as part of a speedup of its restructuring plan, launched in January:
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--Reduce salaried employees and contract workers doing similar work by 10,000 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This follows 4,000 positions eliminated in the first quarter of 2006. Together, the 14,000 positions are about a third of the North American white collar work force total of 42,000 at the start of the year.
--Reduce the number of hourly workers in North America by 25,000 to 30,000 by the end of 2008. That is four years earlier than previously announced.
--Reduce the vehicle production capacity of its North American factory capacity by 26 percent compared to 2005 levels. Ford said in January that it would close 14 plants by 2012.
--Close a Maumee, Ohio, stamping plant in 2008 and an Essex, Ontario, engine plant in 2007, bringing to 16 the total number of plants to be closed. Move up the previously announced closing of a Norfolk, Va., assembly plant from 2008 to 2007.
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DEARBORN - Ford Motor Co announced a plan to dramatically shrink its North American operations, cutting some 14,000 salaried positions and offering buyouts to all of its hourly workers in the United States as part of sweeping restructuring plan aimed at cutting operating costs by $5 billion and stabilizing the company's decade-long market share decline at a modest 14 to 15 percent share by the end of 2008. These combined equal 44,000 jobs to be eliminated by the end of next year. The Detroit News had estimated that these moves would have eliminated 45,000 jobs
The 14,000 white-collar cuts represent a third of Ford's U.S. salaried workforce and include 4,000 announced earlier this year. While Ford will offer early retirement incentives and voluntary buyouts, the company said it will resort to layoffs if necessary to meet this goal. Most employees are expected to leave by the end of next March.
As The Detroit News first reported Thursday, Ford has also reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers to extend voluntary buyouts to all of its 75,000 U.S. hourly workers. Workers who sign up for one of those offers must leave the company within the next 12 months.
Ford said Friday that it hopes this initiative will eliminate 25,000 to 30,000 blue-collar jobs by the end of 2008 - four years faster than the 2012 goal Ford set when it launched its first "way forward" restructuring plan in January.
In addition, Ford said it will sell or close all of the former Visteon Corp. factories currently being managed by its Automotive Components Holdings LLC subsidiary by the end of 2008. Ford agreed to take those plants back as part of a bail-out deal with its former parts division last year and had hoped their sale could offset at least part of the cost of that agreement. But Ford has yet to sell a single plant, and interested buyers are reported to be few.
"These actions have painful consequences for communities and many of our loyal employees," said Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. in a statement released Friday morning. "But rapid shifts in consumer demand that affect our product mix and continued high prices for commodities mean we must continue working quickly and decisively to fix our business."
Ford plans to reduce its North American production capacity to 3.6 million units by the end of 2008. That would represent a 26 percent reduction over last year's total and is expected to match company's modest market share projections.
Ford has already announced plans to idle seven factories. On Friday, the company added two more to the list: the Maumee Stamping Plant in Ohio and the Essex Engine Plant in Ontario. That plant will be shuttered next year, while the Ohio plant is expected to remain in operation into 2008.
The company will also close its Norfolk Assembly Plant a year earlier than planned. Shift reductions will begin there and at Ford's Twin Cities Assembly plant, which is also marked for idling, in 2007. One bright spot in Ford's factory forecast was its Dearborn Truck Plant, which will add a third crew next year to accommodate F-150 truck production being transferred there from Norfolk.
Product led turnaround
Ford also announced plans to revamp its North American product lineup, promising that 70 percent of all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products will be new or significantly refreshed by the end of 2008.
As part of that effort, Ford confirmed that it will build a new full-size crossover utility vehicle based on the Fairlane concept that was exhibited at the Detroit auto show in 2005, as The Detroit News first reported in June. The new vehicle will be produced in Oakville, Ontario, and go on sale in 2008.
Ford also said it will introduce an all-new F-150 pickup in 2008, featuring an improved powertrain, refreshed design and more features in a bid to protect its truck hegemony from new rivals being introduced by Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Corp.
The F-series pickup is the best-selling vehicle in the United States and represents the core of Ford's product lineup.
Financials worse than expected
Ford admitted Friday that, even with these deep cuts, it will not meet its goal of returning its North American operations to profitability by the end of next year. The company said full-year automotive profitability in North America not expected before 2009.
"Clearly, we could have cut product programs and maintained our goal of North American profitability in 2008," said Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas group. "But, even as we further reduce our costs and capacity and make tough-but-necessary decisions throughout our business, we cannot and will not retreat from the critical investments to deliver the right products for our customers."
Only South America and Ford of Europe are expected to post profits in 2006.
As a result, Ford's board of directors voted to suspend quarterly dividend payments, beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.
"The steps we are announcing today are clearly needed to ensure the ultimate turnaround of the business in Ford's biggest and most important market," said Alan Mulally, Ford's newly appointed president and CEO. "Although the process has been under way for months, I have had a chance to review these actions and am convinced that they provide the sound, product-led underpinnings and cost reductions we will need to achieve our goals. I look forward to helping with the implementation.
"Turnarounds of this magnitude succeed when capacity and costs are aligned with a realistic expectation of demand," Mulally continued. "These actions are certainly consistent with that goal. We will focus intensely on the needs of our customers in North America, and around the world, by pulling forward new products and creating new markets. We are a team united by a shared vision to build the best automobiles in the world at Ford Motor Company."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...PDATE/609150420 |
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| Skipper |
| Ah yes, I forgot their were unveiling their restructuring plan today. |
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| Chris Allen |
Ha. This just came on TV. Toyota's new plant in Woodstock, Ontario will pay around $30/hr. They expect 50,000 applications.
EDIT: This data is for Canada but it is probably similar in the US.
Ford Motor Company
Employees: 14,000
Vehicle Sales: 213,775
Toyota Motor Company
Employees: 4,300
Vehicle Sales: 170,216
It takes more than triple the workforce to sell 25% more cars?
That doesn't seem terribly efficient. No wonder Ford is in trouble.
http://www.thestar.com/static/PDF/0...ord_graphic.pdf |
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| MarkT |
saw that on Newsworld this morning.
with gas prices at the level they are...who is surprised. Ford's bread and butter has long been their truck and SUV division. They've consistently lost money (or not made much) on their cars for years.
sad to see (my dad worked for them for 40 years).
hopefully they turn things around. Ironic that they are slashing jobs (though two plants here will see new vehicles), yet Toyota is on a hiring blitz here. |
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| Reversed |
Yeah, that just can't be right. I wonder if that data takes into consideration the amount of sales Toyota has with it's importated vehicles?
Lowell
| quote: | Originally posted by Chris Allen
Ha. This just came on TV. Toyota's new plant in Woodstock, Ontario will pay around $30/hr. They expect 50,000 applications.
EDIT: This data is for Canada but it is probably similar in the US.
Ford Motor Company
Employees: 14,000
Vehicle Sales: 213,775
Toyota Motor Company
Employees: 4,300
Vehicle Sales: 170,216
It takes more than triple the workforce to sell 25% more cars?
That doesn't seem terribly efficient. No wonder Ford is in trouble.
http://www.thestar.com/static/PDF/0...ord_graphic.pdf |
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| psychosomatica |
Not only that... Toyota's even beginning to overtake the American manufacturers when it comes to pickup trucks.
But who didn't see this coming.. I mean after Kerkorian's restructring of GM... |
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| 7-4-7 |
F ucker
O nly
R uns
D ownhill |
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| VERTiG0 |
ing idiots should just can the North American Focus, and give us the Euro Focus...
Also, get rid of the Five Hundred and give us the FPV GT-P, thanks.
(this is bone stock from the factory)
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| Jayx1 |
| Windsor denied sooo many jobs back in the 90s. Donald trump wanted to turn windsor into a mini vegas with clubs and restaurants and the city rejected the idea. All they could think about were the big 3. And now they are about to pay the price. It sucks for the city of windsor but it looks good on the shoddy leadership that they have. |
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| Frenchie |
| quote: | Originally posted by 7-4-7
F ucker
O nly
R uns
D ownhill |
Found
On
Road
Dead
???? |
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