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Ford overhauls Way Forward plan (14K Non-Direct Labor Jobs Gone)
Autonews ^ | 9/15/06 | Mikey_1962

Posted on 09/15/2006 5:16:26 AM PDT by Mikey_1962

Cuts include 14,000 white collar jobs, fourth-quarter dividend; North American operations likely not profitable before 2009; market share expected to be around 15 percent

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. said today it will cut its operating costs by $5 billion and cut its salaried work force by one-third, or about 14,000 positions, as it speeds up its Way Forward restructuring plan.

Ford also said it will not pay a stock dividend for the fourth quarter, and will sell or close all former Visteon plants by the end of 2008 and close other plants.

The automaker now acknowledges that it won't return its North American automotive unit to profitability by the end of 2008 as previously planned. Because of further expected market share declines, Ford now says that full-year profitability for the unit is not expected before 2009.

That unit lost $1.6 billion before taxes in 2005. It lost another $1.3 billion before taxes and one-time charges through the first half of this year.

Market share for the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands will continue to fall, Ford said today. The combined market share of the three brands already has dropped by 1.1 percentage points through August, to 16.8 percent of the U.S. market.

Ford said today that U.S. market share of those brands will be in the low 16 percent range by the end of this year. Ford expects share to further fall to the 14 to 15 percent range in the future.

Ford will idle its Norfolk, Va., assembly plant in 2007, a year earlier than planned. That plant builds F-150 pickups.

A shift reduction is now planned for the Norfolk plant and the St. Paul, Minn., plant that builds the Ford Ranger pickup.

(Excerpt) Read more at autonews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: automotive; ford; homosexualagenda
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Going Down?
1 posted on 09/15/2006 5:16:27 AM PDT by Mikey_1962
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To: Mikey_1962
Going Down?

I think the correct term is "TAKE OVER"

2 posted on 09/15/2006 5:19:51 AM PDT by Taggart_D
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To: Taggart_D

"I think the correct term is TAKE OVER"

The question is, "Who wants Ford."


3 posted on 09/15/2006 5:21:42 AM PDT by BW2221
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To: Mikey_1962
Fix Or Repair Daily


BUMP

4 posted on 09/15/2006 5:23:02 AM PDT by capitalist229 (Get Democrats out of our pockets and Republicans out of our bedrooms.)
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To: Mikey_1962
Ford is not exactly disappearing but with that big a cut in their white collar workforce it looks like they are "outsourcing" administration to their overseas divisions.

Someone is "protecting the dealerships" too. This is a very stupid move ~ sure, they might need all those dealers in the future, but you can contract for that service as needed. International Harvester even went so far as to absorb the debts of its dealership network ~ a vast sum of money at the time that turned out to be more than the company itself was worth.

They went out of business.

Ford is going to go out of business eventually doing this.

It will be interesting to see who buys which current Ford assets at bankruptcy ~ certainly won't be the dealers they are protecting today.

5 posted on 09/15/2006 5:23:10 AM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Mikey_1962

bump


6 posted on 09/15/2006 5:23:11 AM PDT by VOA
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To: BW2221

The question is why do those on this board (not all but some) hate American Auto manufacturing and delight when people lose their jobs. Frankly it's sickening. I want Ford to succeed.


7 posted on 09/15/2006 5:23:17 AM PDT by nyconse
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To: BW2221

Some do. I'd take one.


8 posted on 09/15/2006 5:24:18 AM PDT by Shimmer128 (Kûlia i ka nu`u.)
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To: Mikey_1962

Hopefully not. They make some good cars and trucks, but as with many large corporations, are finding their market shares down and their expenses up. That cannot continue for long without major changes in the way thinks operate. I do my part with a 04 Grand Marquis, and 95 Explorer.


9 posted on 09/15/2006 5:24:39 AM PDT by wita (truthspeaks@freerepublic.com)
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To: BW2221

I'm hoping for some foreign-owned company to give all the labor unions something to complain about.


10 posted on 09/15/2006 5:25:09 AM PDT by Taggart_D
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To: nyconse

Companies exist for the benefit of their stockholders NOT their employees. That is Capitalism. Whatever Ford does to protect their stockholders is all I care about.


11 posted on 09/15/2006 5:27:05 AM PDT by LetsRok
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To: capitalist229

Found On Road Dead.


12 posted on 09/15/2006 5:27:23 AM PDT by wita (truthspeaks@freerepublic.com)
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To: LetsRok
Whatever Ford does to protect their stockholders is all I care about.

What a nice guy you are.

13 posted on 09/15/2006 5:30:51 AM PDT by JackDanielsOldNo7 (On guard until the seal is broken)
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To: nyconse
The question is why do those on this board (not all but some) hate American Auto manufacturing and delight when people lose their jobs.

Just try to defend domestic vehicle quality around here and you will hear plenty of anectodal evidence, but very little substance.

Ford has brought much of its pain upon itself. It has been too closely tied with its unions. Management has been derelict in its duty to keep the company innovations coming.

I said last year, when the media was writing GM's epithet that it would be Ford in the most trouble. It may require a takeover to straighten them out, especially when Daimler-Chrysler overtakes them in market share.

14 posted on 09/15/2006 5:31:54 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (The Democratic Party will not exist in a few years....we are watching history unfold before us.)
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To: nyconse
The question is why do those on this board (not all but some) hate American Auto manufacturing

Uuuuhhhh....can you say "LABOR UNIONS" sucking out all the competitive blood out of the American auto industry? Hate American auto manufacturing? I think its more like wishing the american auto industry can get up to the 21st century and get rid of the prima donnas assembling all the cars.

I toured the Ford Rouge facility and was shocked to see the auto workers standing around with I-Pods in their ears and gabbing to their friends much of the time....and they're probably pulling down about $100,000 a year. They need to get a job like the rest of us in America they are an embarrassment to the rest of the working class.

15 posted on 09/15/2006 5:33:43 AM PDT by Taggart_D
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To: LetsRok
Whatever Ford does to protect their stockholders is all I care about.

Their stock is a Junk status right now.

16 posted on 09/15/2006 5:36:13 AM PDT by Alouette (Psalms of the Day: 106-107)
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To: Mikey_1962

Going down, the sooner the better


17 posted on 09/15/2006 5:37:13 AM PDT by trustandobey
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To: nyconse
The question is why do those on this board (not all but some) hate American Auto manufacturing and delight when people lose their jobs. Frankly it's sickening. I want Ford to succeed.

I agree. I live in the former manufacturing powerhouse known as the I-94 corridor in southern michigan. We used to be the home of secondary automotive industries that went overseas. They weren't union or high paying jobs, they mostly paid enough to raise a family on but little else. Today it's all low paying retail jobs or welfare here.
18 posted on 09/15/2006 5:38:36 AM PDT by cripplecreek (If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?)
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To: Mikey_1962
Going Down?

I am here on the Titanic right now. In half an hour the Captain will speak and say who gets a place on the lifeboats and who gets life jackets and who goes overboard.

19 posted on 09/15/2006 5:38:47 AM PDT by Alouette (Psalms of the Day: 106-107)
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To: nyconse
I want Ford to succeed even more than you because I live in Detroit and do work with automotive manufacturers, primarily the "Big Three," but also some Asians.

Of the "Big Three," Ford is by far in the worst shape. Cutting costs is only part of the problem. They need to start designing products (particularly cars) that people want to buy, stop losing market share and completely rebuild morale of both employees and its dealer body.

GM looks like they are starting to turn the corner. GM has introduced a number of new models and its new full-size pickups have received rave reviews. Chrysler Group has major inventory problems, but has lots of new models it's about to launch. Then, there's Ford.

A lot of people question the wisdom of paying top-dollar for a new CEO with no automotive experience. Typically outsiders named to high positions in the auto industry fail.

Unfortunately, with all Ford's problems, I'm not sure any competitor would want to merge with them.
20 posted on 09/15/2006 5:47:21 AM PDT by BW2221
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