Ford Motor Company (F) has announced plans today to slash third and fourth quarter production. In today's announcement the company stated that third quarter production would fall by roughly 20,000 vehicles, but for the fourth quarter, the reduction would shoot up to around 168,000 vehicles with much of the reduction being in trucks and sport utility vehicles.Ford enacted its "Way Forward" plan back in January which called for the company to shut down 14 plants and lay off between 25,000 and 30,000 employees by 2012. Today's announcement will mainly affect production at the Louisville Assembly Plant, but many other plants will also experience some downtime.
"We know this decision will have a dramatic impact on our employees, as well as our suppliers," Mr. Ford said. "This is, however, the right call for our customers, our dealers and our long-term future."
Ford blames its recent ailments on weakening demand for SUV's as a direct result of higher gas prices. It stated that sales for the Ford Expedition are down 38% and Lincoln Navigator sales are down 17.9%. This is not a good sign for the company's future outlook since most of Ford's profits have historically come from its truck and SUV lines.
The main question is, how many more jobs are on the line? Ford's board is scheduled to meet Sept. 14 to review new "Way Forward" plans and those decisions should be made public shortly thereafter.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-19-2006 @ 2:46AM
Abby said...
IMO, This cut in production will not harm Ford as much since it will already be producing what it can sell.
This would also mean a fall in the cost of production, which could prove beneficiary to the company in the lon g run.
8-21-2006 @ 4:31PM
Casey said...
UNION contracts and benefits are going to drive Ford AND other such smoke-stack employers (think airlines also...) OUT OF BUSINESS...