Posted on 01/22/2006 7:19:36 PM PST by Flavius
Hurt by Falling Sales of SUVs, Ford Will Face Plant Closings and Thousands of Job Losses
DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co., hurt by falling sales of sport utility vehicles, is expected to close plants and cut thousands of jobs in North America as part of a restructuring program to be announced Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT Ford has refused to release details of the plan, dubbed the "Way Forward," which also is expected to include product changes and cuts to Ford's salaried ranks. Ford has about 87,000 hourly workers and 35,000 salaried workers in North America.
"It's going to be painful for some people," Ford Chairman and CEO Bill Ford said earlier this month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The assembly plants believed to be most at risk for closure are in St. Louis; St. Paul, Minn.; Atlanta; Wixom, Mich.; St. Thomas, Ontario; and Cuatitlan, Mexico. Those plants could be targeted because of their age, the products they make, their lack of flexibility or other factors.
States were scrambling to offer tax credits and other incentives to keep Ford from closing their facilities.
Earlier this month, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt and other state officials flew to Ford's headquarters in Dearborn for a meeting with Ford executives. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she outlined a package of incentives to Ford last week. Granholm wouldn't disclose the details of the package and said she wasn't given any assurance that Michigan plants would be spared.
Ford is expected to report a worldwide profit for 2005 when it releases earnings Monday. But it lost more than $1.4 billion in its North American operations in the first nine months of last year.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker has been hurt by falling sales of its profitable sport utility vehicles, growing health care and materials costs and labor contracts that have limited its ability to close plants and cut jobs. The United Auto Workers union will have to agree to some of the changes Ford wants to make.
"We don't like to see any jobs go away," UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said last week. "We're always in hope that down the road we'll be able to reverse some of those decisions."
Ford also has seen its U.S. market share slide as a result of increasing competition from foreign rivals. The company suffered its tenth straight year of market share losses in the United States in 2005, and for the first time in 19 years, Ford lost its crown as America's best-selling brand to GM's Chevrolet. Ford sold about 2.9 million vehicles for a market share of 17.4 percent in 2005, down from 18.3 percent the year before and 24 percent in 1990.
The restructuring is Ford's second in four years. Under the first plan, Ford closed five plants and cut 35,000 jobs, but its North American operations failed to turn around.
Ford used just 79 percent of its North American plant capacity in 2005, down from 86 percent in 2004, according to preliminary numbers released last week by Harbour Consulting Inc., a firm that measures plant productivity. By contrast, rival Toyota Motor Corp. was operating at full capacity.
Ford Motor Co.: http://www.ford.com
Iran losses thus far. - 5 letters from EU,UN, and1 from girl scouts
This hits very close to home. Ford has to many problems to solve and they aren't very serious about actually changing the company. People are jumping ship daily.
Here in the twin Cities there are a lot of people waiting to see if the Ford plant here closes.
Currently, they make the Ford Ranger pick-up truck.
Gov Tim Pawlenty has presented Ford's mgmt with a subsidy offer to keep the plant open albeit with a significantly different mission - a biofuel research center. Apparently, Ford officials were not impressed.
Here's a column from the Minneapolis StarTribune (aka The Red Star) about the possible plant closing:
http://www.startribune.com/535/story/196584.html
Any word on building cars that people might like?
Their own TV ads brag about the Fusion as being "an import-killer" ... dumb move.
I take it you haven't driven one.
For the month of October, I can confirm that...They were moving a "lot of cars" (Camrys and Avalons)
Ford makes nifty cars (I think anyway). The only thing is that they are sold only in Australia. How about the Falcon XR8? It's got a 350hp V8 engine. It's a sedan. They race them down under.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
I don't think it makes any sense to close TC Assy. Edison was already closed, that leaves TCAP as the only plant making the Ranger. The Ranger still does quite well, considering the company has not done anything to refresh it for a long time.
It would make more sense to close St. Louis and then turn TCAP into a flexible plant to produce the Ranger and the Sport Trac (or similar type vehicle.)
Why should Granholm expect assurance that Michigan plants wouldn't close? It seems to me that moving factories from Michigan to a right-to-work state would be a priority. Granholm should be for making Michigan a right-to-work state, but she's a commie.
no, just confirming the report.
If they'd get their heads "outa their @$$e$ and do some research, concentrate on building safe/sturdy...(no goldplating/reduct # of models)...vehicles @ resonable cost.
I like my Mustang and I'm keeping it.
If Ford would put the tail lights of the Ford Focus lower, instead of on the roof(almost), I'd buy one.
I've got to think there is enough institutional vehicle knowledge at Ford that they'll be able to rise above this current downward spiral.
It would be absolutely horrible for our country for this venerable firm to go out of business. The fact-of-the-matter is that they have been producing solid vehicles the past few years. The recent hullabaloo about overturning Explorer SUVs was a hatchetjob by the mainstream media as far as I'm concerned.
They just need to concentrate on a few more winners like the recent models of the F-150, Mustang, Explorer, Fusion, and others to get out of this mess.
~ Blue Jays ~
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.