Author Topic: Ford slashing North American production (Read 640 times)

xrtoronto · « **on:** August 18, 2006, 10:18:50 AM »

Ford Motor Co. said Friday it will slash its North American vehicle production by 21 per cent in the fourth quarter in a move that will affect thousands of workers.

The automaker plans to build 168,000 fewer units than it did in the same quarter a year ago. The revised plan also reduces the company's previously announced third-quarter plan by 20,000 units.

For all of 2006, Ford plans to produce about nine per cent fewer vehicles than in 2005.

"We know this decision will have a dramatic impact on our employees, as well as our suppliers," Ford chairman and CEO Bill Ford said in a note to employees. "This is, however, the right call for our customers, our dealers and our long-term future."

Ford said full details of additional actions will be announced in September.

The company said the production reduction will result in downtime at several assembly plants between now and the end of the year, including its plant in St. Thomas, Ont., where the Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis are produced.

The company will also take downtime at nine plants in the United States.

Ford said its Oakville, Ont., plant — the home of the Ford Edge, the Lincoln MKX and the Ford Freestar — will run on regular time or overtime based on consumer demand. Six plants in the United States and Mexico will also run on regular production.

In July, Ford reported a second-quarter loss of $123 million US due to the cost of cutting workers, and signalled that more restructuring was coming.

The company said its revenues slipped to $41.97 billion US from $44.55 billion US year-over-year.

Ford's North American operations reported a pre-tax loss of $797 million.

c&p

Looks pretty severe! Gonna cause some hardship to lots of people both sides of the border.

Sandman · « **Reply #1 on:** August 18, 2006, 10:22:35 AM »

What a surprise... the number one SUV seller on the planet is feeling the effect of increased gas prices.

They better get used to it and start looking for alternatives to 6,000 pound yuppie shopping carts.

BigGun · « **Reply #2 on:** August 18, 2006, 10:29:50 AM »

Ford's problem runs a lot deeper than high gas prices & slowing SUV sales. Poor management of the company for years & a stranglehold by the labor unions. Hopefully government doesn't use my tax dollars to help keep the manufacturers afloat.

Maverick · « **Reply #3 on:** August 18, 2006, 12:30:29 PM »

Sandy,

The article didn't mention shutting down any SUV production. All it said was they were closing some plants or slowing them down in the US and Canada. Notice the CHEAP labor area (Mexico) is running at full production in spite of the shiping costs involved.

Stringer · « **Reply #4 on:** August 18, 2006, 12:42:38 PM »

Not quite SUV's but the bigger vehicles will be slowed....

Quote

Ford (NYSE: F) said the reduction will result in down time at several assembly plants between now and the end of the year, including the F-Series truck plant in Kansas City.

lazs2 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 18, 2006, 02:31:15 PM »

sandie... don't you drive a 5,000 pound suv?

lazs

Sandman · « **Reply #6 on:** August 18, 2006, 02:37:34 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by lazs2
sandie... don't you drive a 5,000 pound suv?

lazs

It's more like 4750, but yes.

I may sound like a bit of a hypocrite, but I bought this vehicle because it was four-wheel drive, has good clearance for getting off-road, and I can fit lots of stuff in it. For me, it's a recreational vehicle and not just a large heavily armored car.

I'd be hard pressed to find some actual statistics, but I believe that the vast majority of SUVs in this country never leave the pavement.

lazs2 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 18, 2006, 02:45:17 PM »

a bit of a hypocrite? because you flatten some nature once in a while it's not about you?

I believe that a lot of SUV owners have some pretty good reasons why they should be exempted from your scorn too.... lots of em aren't even 4 wheel drive... they just need a big station wagon... some of em live in snow country where they can use 4 wheel drive 3 or four months a year...

some enjoy camping or boating and need to take a large family..

I don't like the things... I don't like yours or your reason for owning it but...

none of my business.

lazs

Sandman · « **Reply #8 on:** August 18, 2006, 02:50:13 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by lazs2
a bit of a hypocrite? because you flatten some nature once in a while it's not about you?

I stick to the trails.

Nilsen · « **Reply #9 on:** August 18, 2006, 03:32:02 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Sandman
It's more like 4750, but yes.

I may sound like a bit of a hypocrite, but I bought this vehicle because it was four-wheel drive, has good clearance for getting off-road, and I can fit lots of stuff in it. For me, it's a recreational vehicle and not just a large heavily armored car.

I'd be hard pressed to find some actual statistics, but I believe that the vast majority of SUVs in this country never leave the pavement.

Our family business owns what you may call a SUV. The entire family borrowes it for fishing trips, in the mountains (not me) hauling stuff and ofcourse delivering heavy stuff for the business.. This way nobody else in the entire clan needs a suv. Its a Nissan Terrano something.

After nagging the forum here for a couple of years soon (LOL) about what car to buy for us, we are simply gonna buy my dads car. He replaces his with the same brand every two years like clock work and gets a good price for his "old" (the dealer is a friend of his). Now we buy it off him instead.

J_A_B · « **Reply #10 on:** August 18, 2006, 05:45:50 PM »

"I r teh dummy."

What exactly do you drive?

Buicks are apparently all the rage in parts of China. Given GM's track record of screwing up every good thing they have, I wonder how long it'll be before they derail that success.

Ford can build good cars, but their engines are horrible and their designers must be on drugs. Not many people want a smurfy car with a lousy engine. Honda and Toyota both traditionally take a fairly conservative styling approach for their midrange cars, and it pays off. These days, the US companies want to make all their cars look like they're on steroids, and it results in rolling monstrosities like the ill-fated "Aztek". Even the pickup trucks look pretty stupid now, and are often massively overpriced to boot.

J_A_B

Maverick · « **Reply #11 on:** August 18, 2006, 06:11:55 PM »

Nilsen,

Don't forget the other SUV that you use and put exhaust byproducts into the water with.

lasersailor184 · « **Reply #12 on:** August 18, 2006, 08:37:01 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by BigGun
Ford's problem runs a lot deeper than high gas prices & slowing SUV sales. Poor management of the company for years & a stranglehold by the labor unions. Hopefully government doesn't use my tax dollars to help keep the manufacturers afloat.

Agreed.

But from what I've heard, the company is cutting production on cars with their highest profit margins. Very stupid move if it is true.

kamilyun · « **Reply #13 on:** August 18, 2006, 09:49:33 PM »

I recently bought a car. I like supporting American companies and workers. However, I was hard pressed to find an American car that had the safety features I wanted (airbags everywhere), gas mileage I wanted (25 hwy min) and space inside.

Bought a Saturn.

I was AMAZED at the technology gap between Ford and Honda as I was comparing the Focus and the Civic. Sure the Focus is cheaper, but after adding some features that make it comparable to the Civic, it suddenly is just as expensive, if not more...

Instead of giving rebates and incentives--just make a freakin 4-cylinder engine that puts out 150 HP and gets 35 mpg. I'll buy it everytime.

wetrat · « **Reply #14 on:** August 18, 2006, 10:52:09 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by kamilyun
I was AMAZED at the technology gap between Ford and Honda

there really is a big difference... since the snow melted this year, I've been absolutely beating the snot out of my integra (1992, 212km on motor) doing my best to pop the motor before my warranty on it runs out (extra $800 to put towards a swap). I just can't do it... redlining most of my shifts, where traffic permits, since april. If anything, it's running better. I did the same thing when I was trying to kill a 1999 sunfire with 145km on it last summer... the motor was in great shape when it was given to me (body/suspension made it a no-sell), and it lasted just over a week before I popped the head gasket.