2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Ford intensifies the austerity course. The ailing car company expects that the renewal of the outdated model range will not be ready until 2008 to a large extent.
The badly ailing US auto company Ford is accelerating its North American restructuring program drastically and wants to save five billion dollars in operating costs. Ford wants to cut up to 14,000 employee positions, as the company announced on Friday. Of these, 4,000 jobs had already been cut in the first quarter. In total, around a third of North American employees are affected. Most of those affected will be leaving Ford by the end of the first quarter of 2007.
Retirement programs preferred
Ford, in agreement with its unions, has also offered early retirement programs to all American workers, aiming to send a total of 25,000 to 30,000 workers home by the end of 2008. Originally, Ford didn't want to achieve this goal until 2012.
Ford will also close a total of 16 factories instead of 14 car factories and parts factories, nine of which will be in North America by 2008. All plants that were taken back from the former Ford parts division Visteon are to be sold or closed by the end of 2008. All workers at the Automotive Components Holdings (ACH) rescue company set up by Ford for these operations are also offered the early retirement packages. According to the American auto workers union UAW (United Auto Workers), depending on seniority and age, they can be up to $ 140,000.
The Ford board of directors has also indicated that it intends to discontinue dividend numbers from the fourth quarter of 2006 onwards. Ford also announced that by the end of 2008 the North American product range will be renewed to around 70 percent.
