angelmav Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Ford to cut 25 percent of its capacity January 20, 2006 2:30 PM ET NEW YORK, Jan 20, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Ford Motor Co. plans to close at least 10 factories across North America and eliminate 25,000 hourly jobs. In an announcement set for Monday, the financially ailing automaker will announce a 25 percent capacity reduction and staff cuts that, with layoffs among salaried workers, will reach 30,000, the Wall Street Journal said Friday. Among plant set to be closed are facilities in St. Louis and Atlanta. Ford also will reveal its decision to leave the minivan business. Such sales at the financially ailing company, which lost $1.34 billion in North America during last year's first three quarters, sank sharply in 2005: Ford Freestar sales were down 25.1 percent from 2004 and Mercury Monterey sales were off 53.1 percent. "We have to pick and choose where we want to compete," Mark Fields, Ford's executive vice president and president of the Americas, said in an interview with the Journal last week. "The idea you have to be in all the segments, that's an old way of thinking." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07 Shelby Cobra Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Ford to cut 25 percent of its capacity January 20, 2006 2:30 PM ET NEW YORK, Jan 20, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Ford Motor Co. plans to close at least 10 factories across North America and eliminate 25,000 hourly jobs. In an announcement set for Monday, the financially ailing automaker will announce a 25 percent capacity reduction and staff cuts that, with layoffs among salaried workers, will reach 30,000, the Wall Street Journal said Friday. Among plant set to be closed are facilities in St. Louis and Atlanta. Ford also will reveal its decision to leave the minivan business. Such sales at the financially ailing company, which lost $1.34 billion in North America during last year's first three quarters, sank sharply in 2005: Ford Freestar sales were down 25.1 percent from 2004 and Mercury Monterey sales were off 53.1 percent. "We have to pick and choose where we want to compete," Mark Fields, Ford's executive vice president and president of the Americas, said in an interview with the Journal last week. "The idea you have to be in all the segments, that's an old way of thinking." Wow no Minivan? What are they thinking?? They'll be around a lot longer than SUVs. Too much competition I suppose? They've never tried very hard, design wise, in that segment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelmav Posted January 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Its just ridiculous that you will be able to get a minivan from KIA but not from FORD??? The plant closings and layoffs while not a huge suprise since they came out before the holidays talking about downsizing and restructuring still makes me wonder just what kind of shape their in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertlane Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 I'm set to attend the meeting this coming Monday here in Dearborn. I know there will be video available, so I will post it by Thursday or sooner. I just cannot believe a company like Ford won't make minivans. Just amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil95GT Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 I'm set to attend the meeting this coming Monday here in Dearborn. I know there will be video available, so I will post it by Thursday or sooner. I just cannot believe a company like Ford won't make minivans. Just amazing. It's a situation much like when they pulled the plug on the MN12 platform (Thunderbird/Cougar/Mark VIII). At that point in time, Ford *owned* that market segment. According to production figures, those 3 cars outsold the GM and Dodge offerings by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Now.......if you're making money on something, wouldn't it make sense to keep producing the big sellers (even in the last year, each model saw 100,000+ units) and make your cuts elsewhere? The minivan has been a fixture for 21 years. IMHO, I feel the problem lies within the whole "We're going to introduce 65 new products over the next X years". I feel the smarter gamble would have been to introduce a handful of new products, but keep the focus on improving the existing lines. The nameplates that were able to prove themselves (Mustang, Thunderbird, Escort, Taurus) should have been the ones that received the attention, with other newer products being secondary until they prove to be hot sellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchGT500 Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 I'm set to attend the meeting this coming Monday here in Dearborn. I know there will be video available, so I will post it by Thursday or sooner. I just cannot believe a company like Ford won't make minivans. Just amazing. Minivans are over. CUV's are around the corner. That's the new trend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
07 Shelby Cobra Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Minivans are over. CUV's are around the corner. That's the new trend. Good point Patrick. Boy you're really up on what's up in North America! SUV wise, Ford dropped the Excursion this past fall. Not a surprise though. It was supposed to anihilate Chevy Suburban sales. It never did. I have an 05' and think it's an incredible monster, 2200lbs heavier than the Suburban and with a Turbo Diesel. Gets better mileage than my old Expedition though. Best SUV Ford ever built, in my opinion. I guess I'm not exactly the Canadian Poster Boy for Kyoto. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVWSSV Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Minivans are over. CUV's are around the corner. That's the new trend. +1, perfect. That's exactly what I was going to say. Which is great news because Minivan drivers suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustangFanatic Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Minivans are over. CUV's are around the corner. That's the new trend. I agree as well, Ford has indicated for some time they were considered exiting the business so I'm not surprised. Ford wants to create a ground-breaking CUV and should focus their efforts there and not keep making mini's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DutchGT500 Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Good point Patrick. Boy you're really up on what's up in North America! SUV wise, Ford dropped the Excursion this past fall. Not a surprise though. It was supposed to anihilate Chevy Suburban sales. It never did. I have an 05' and think it's an incredible monster, 2200lbs heavier than the Suburban and with a Turbo Diesel. Gets better mileage than my old Expedition though. Best SUV Ford ever built, in my opinion. I guess I'm not exactly the Canadian Poster Boy for Kyoto. :unsure: I visit every year. In August I come back again. Will visit Fun Ford Weekend in Bristol. And then down to Florida to the villa in Cape Coral. As you see I have an Explorer and in Europe SUVs are still big business, but not for long. Today I paid 1.40 Euro a liter = $1.68 a liter. I have the car for towing a boat. Here you see more XC90, Toareg and Cayenne then Americans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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