FORD SAYS ITS LINEUP SHAKEUP WON’T AFFECT JOBS AT CHICAGO PLANTS
DEARBORN, Mich. — After Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will shed most of its North American car lineup, a company spokeswoman said ‘‘ there is no effect on jobs,’’ regarding the two plants in the Chicago area.
The changes include getting rid of all cars in the region during the next four years except for the Mustang sports car and a compact Focus crossover vehicle, CEO Jim Hackett said as the company released first- quarter earnings.
About 5,290 people are employed at the Torrence Avenue Assembly Plant on the Southeast Side and the Chicago Heights Stamping Plant in the south suburbs.
The company said production of the Taurus and Police Interceptor Sedan will end at the Torrence Avenue plant by March 2019, though new versions of the Explorer and Po- lice Interceptor SUV will begin, as will the production of a new Lincoln Aviator.
Joe Hinrichs, executive vice president at Ford said the company looks forward to investing “heavily” at the Chicago plants.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity to keep Chicago going full speed ahead,” Hinrichs said.
The decision, which Hackett said was due to declining demand and profitability, means Ford will no longer sell the Fusion midsize car, Taurus large car, CMax hybrid compact and Fiesta subcompact in the U. S., Canada and Mexico.
Exiting most of the car business comes as the U. S. market continues a dramatic shift toward trucks and SUVs. Ford could also exit or restructure low- performing areas of its business, executives said.
The company has found another $ 11.5 billion in cost cuts and efficiencies, bringing the total to $ 25.5 billion expected by 2022, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks told reporters. Savings will come from engineering, product development, marketing, materials and manufacturing. The company previously predicted $ 14 billion in cuts by 2022.
One- third of Ford’s belt- tightening will come by the end of 2020, Shanks said.
“We’re starting to understand what we need to do and making clear decisions there,” Hackett said.
Ford also promised to raise its operating profit margin from 5.2 percent to 8 percent by 2020, two years earlier than a previous forecast. That includes a 10 percent pretax margin in North America.
Shanks said Ford is “unleashing the creativity of the teams to challenge norms, challenge conventions.” Cuts and efficiencies are not done yet, he said.
Ford will cut $ 5 billion from capital spending from 2019 to 2022, reducing it from $ 34 billion to $ 29 billion. The company will spend less on low- performing areas such as cars. It identified Lincoln as a low- performing area, but Shanks said sales are growing and the brand is not in jeopardy. More capital will be allocated to higher- performing areas such as trucks and sport utilities, he said.