Here is my economic evaluation of Ford.
This story parallels my Detroit Bailout story covering the despair of GM.
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Batavia Ford Plant Closing Its Doors
Last Update: 6/13 6:42 pm
It is a sad and emotional day for workers at the Batavia Ford transmission plant as the facility will shut its doors for the final time Friday.
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Closing the plant means almost 800 workers will be without jobs on Saturday.
The closure had been in the works for about a year, but it was Monday that employees were told Friday would be their last day.
Since the plant opened in 1980, five million transmissions have rolled off the assembly line floor.
Twenty five hundred employees used to walk through the turnstiles at the plant every day. Now, empty spots can be seen all over the parking lot.
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Ohio Workers Feel Impact of Ford Plant Closing
May 8, 2007 · Ford Motor Co. says it will close an engine-casting plant in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park. The shutdown, scheduled for 2009, is part of a companywide restructuring plan that will close 16 facilities by 2012.
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More than 1,700 Ford employees in the Cleveland area will feel the economic blow - 1,200 at the casting plant and another 500 at a nearby engine plant that will be shuttered for at least a year.
Ford is cutting thousands of jobs because of continued financial losses - nearly $13 billion in 2006 and another $282 million so far this year.
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Twin Cities Ford Plant: The End of an Era
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After a rich history of booming business followed by slowing demand and furloughs, the Minnesota Ford plant will close its doors permanently in 2009. In April 2006 nearly 1,800 workers learned they would lose their jobs and began wondering if they would ever recover the wages and benefits they have through Ford.
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Ford’s Detroit headquarters introduced its "Way Forward" in early 2006, expanding it since to include 16 plant closings. The company has announced nine of the 16 planned closings so far. In addition to TCAP, the Atlanta Assembly, St. Louis Assembly, Norfolk Assembly (Virginia), Wixom Assembly (Michigan), Windsor Casting (Canada), Essex Engine (Canada), Maumee Stamping (Ohio), and Batavia Transmission (Ohio) will all close.
These 16 closings will mean the loss of 30,000 production jobs and 14,000 salaried positions by the end of 2009, reducing the company’s North American workforce by 29 percent. Buyouts, which allow Ford to end its financial responsibility to an employee, have been offered to all 75,000 active hourly workers in the United States, regardless of plant location.
Worldwide, Ford employs approximately 260,000 workers across more than 100 plants. Salaried jobs represent about a third of that workforce. Ford’s North American workforce, salaried and hourly, makes up about 122,000 of that 260,000.
Do you see where this is going?
Looks like the Canadians are now getting the NAFTA SHAFTA with the closing of Windsor and Essex plants.
Less than half of the employees of this iconic American company are in America.
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Ford to Make Asia a Focus: And Thailand to be Central Pillar of Ford’s Asian Strategy
Ford Motor CEO, Bill Ford, Jr. announced in Thailand during a visit in late October 2005 that Ford plans to further target Asia for expansion and growth over the coming years. He further noted that Thailand will become a central base for Ford’s Asia production Thailand is the second largest pickup market worldwide after the U.S. Ford is producing just over 100,000 units of the Ranger pickup at the Auto Alliance plant in Rayong and expects to export them to 130 countries.
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Recently Ford expanded its production lines in India and China. The next launch of Ford’s new model is expected in China next year.
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Ford Motor launches engine plant in India
Tue May 13, 2008 11:06pm BST
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has started operations at its engine assembly plant in India, the U.S. carmaker said on Tuesday, as it seeks a bigger share of the fast-growing market.
The plant, near Chennai in southern India, will initially make 60,000 engines annually for its Fiesta and Fusion models, starting with the 1.4-litre diesel Duratorq engines, it said.
Ford will first aim the 50,000 diesel and 10,000 petrol engines at the local market, and then export them. It will have an eventual capacity of 250,000 engines.
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April 18, 2008
Ford weighs third China plant to meet demand
BEIJING (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co <F.N> may build a third assembly plant in China to meet fast-growing demand for its cars just five years into its push into the booming Chinese market, a senior executive said.
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That $510 million plant, which began operations last year, has an initial capacity to produce 160,000 vehicles per year that could be expanded so it can produce up to 300,000, Parker said. Through its joint venture Changan Ford Mazda, the No. 2 U.S. automaker also operates a nearby engine plant.
In addition, Changan Ford Mazda has an assembly plant in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
That facility is running near capacity at about 270,000 vehicles per year, Parker said, making the area a clear candidate for new investment.
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Saturday, 31 May 2008
Ford to open new plant in Mexico
US giant Ford is to invest $3bn (£1.5bn) in a new car plant in Mexico, the biggest investment in the country's manufacturing sector.
The move is a blow to American car workers who had hoped the factory would be built in the United States.
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It will be located near Mexico City and the plant is expected to start delivering the Fiesta to the US market in 2010.
Do you see a picture emerging here?