Ford To Cut North America Production, Continue Job Cuts
Ford Motor Co. (F) will cut North America production by 101,000 vehicles during the second quarter in response to the weakening U.S. sales market.The auto maker now plans to build 710,000 cars and trucks during the quarter, Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair said during a conference call Thursday. European production, however, is expected to increase by 53,000 vehicles to 565, 000.The production cuts underscore how the softening U.S. economy, combined with rising gas prices, are impacting the sale of new cars and trucks. General Motors Corp. (GM) said Wednesday that U.S. industry sales may be worse in the second quarter than the first quarter.Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally said during the call he will continue looking to trim hourly jobs after the company bought out 4,200 hourly workers during the first quarter. Mulally said he will now concentrate on reductions on a plant-by-plant and product-by-product basis. Buyouts will be used but the packages won’t be sweetened, Mulally said.”We don’t have a company wide hiring freeze,” Mulally said. “The overall direction is to size production to demand.”Ford shares recently rose 56 cents, or 7.5%, to $8.08.
