Ford restructuring plan expected Friday

By TOM KRISHER, Associated Press Writer

DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. will make its new restructuring plan, which is expected to include more plant closings and expanded employee layoffs, public on Friday morning.

In a statement Thursday, the company said it will issue a news release at 7 a.m. EDT and give presentations to employees and the media starting at 9 a.m. on the plan that could have the ailing automaker slash jobs and reduce factories further and faster in its quest to revive profits.

Ford's board of directors has been meeting for the past two days to discuss the restructuring.

News of the announcement came as a Detroit newspaper reported that the automaker could lose up to $9 billion this year including the costs of a massive restructuring plan.

The Detroit News reported Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair's office has said in a financial forecast report that Ford's global automotive operations will post a pretax loss of $5.6 billion to $5.9 billion this year.

Once restructuring costs are factored in, the loss could widen to $9 billion, the newspaper said, citing a senior Ford official who it said had firsthand knowledge of the report.

The report said most of the loss would come from Ford's North American operations, the newspaper reported.

Ford sales have suffered in North America as the auto market shifts away from trucks and truck-based sport utility vehicles and toward more fuel-efficient models often made by Asian automakers.

Company spokeswoman Becky Sanch said Ford would not discuss the report.

"Those aren't numbers that we shared, and we're not commenting," she told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Ford recorded the largest net loss in its history in 1992, $7.4 billion, but most of it was due to accounting changes. Ford also posted a $5.5 billion net loss in 2001, in part due to a restructuring plan.

Ford lost $1.4 billion during the first half of the year and is under pressure from Wall Street to make further cuts and roll out new cars and trucks more quickly.

In July, the company pledged to accelerate its "Way Forward" restructuring plan, which when introduced in January called for cutting up to 30,000 jobs and closing 14 facilities by 2012.

Ford shares rose 11 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $9.08 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Warren

 

Ford and the UAW have already agreed on buyout packages for 75,000 UAW workers:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060914/ford_cuts.html?.v=29

 

I wonder if Land Rover and Jag are in danger.

 

Days of teh UAW are numbered.

 

One can only hope.

Now how long before we hear the stories about Ford is only doing this to bust the union?

 

Yeah seriously. If that was true then it would be Ford's smartest business decision since, well... ever.

 

Well, as much as I hate unions, it's not the unions that's leading to the demise of the American automobile. It's quality. The big three have been resting on their laurels, figuring that the public is going to buy American no matter what. So making a quality vehicle that was reliable and dependable took a back seat to name recognition. That's where the likes of Honda, Toyota, Nissan (then Datsun), et. al came in.

The gas crisis of the early 70's make Americans think about a more fuel efficiant car and the Japanese and European makes were there with their four cylinder economy cars, ready to help the American consumer. It wasn't long before the Americans realized that these 'fir-in' cars weren't only fuel efficient, they were reilable and fun to drive. They realized they could have a quality car.

And there was the Detroit automakers, standing on the sidelines, with blinders on. This was the beginning of the end for the American automakers.

Warren