FORD EXPECTED TO CLOSE WIXOM

[TwinCityAssembly]

Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce Monday that it will close the Wixom Assembly Plant as part of its anxiously awaited Way Forward plan — a wide-ranging effort that will close plants, lay off tens of thousands of workers and detail the automaker's strategy for the future.

 

The Dearborn-based automaker has publicly refused to comment on which plants it might close, causing worries to mount in cities where Ford cars, trucks and auto parts are built.

 

But on Friday two Ford officials with knowledge of the plan, who did not want to be identified, said it now calls for Wixom's closure. Although they said the plan has been finalized, changes are possible until Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford makes the announcement at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

 

Besides Wixom, the plants most likely to close are in St. Louis, Mo.; St. Paul, Minn.; Atlanta, and Cuautitlan, Mexico. In recent days, Canadian Auto Worker President Buzz Hargrove expressed concern that a car plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, would be cut.

 

But no town has been more on edge than Wixom.

 

The community had long thought the 49-year-old Wixom plant, employing 1,567, was destined for extinction.

 

But hope was kindled by such reports as a Wednesday one from Catherine Madden, an automotive production analyst at Global Insight, a research firm in Lexington, Mass., that she believed the plant would be spared.

 

Ford Motor has several large assembly plants and other parts facilities in Michigan. That includes Dearborn Truck and Michigan Truck in Wayne.

 

Michigan officials have said they are working to keep every Ford job in the state, offering several tax abatements and to further rebuild the Wixom plant's I-96 interchange. The state has declined to put a dollar figure on that aid.

 

A spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Friday that she is waiting to hear Ford's decision on the plant. An announcement to close Wixom would finally put the issue to rest and allow the town and its workers to move on and prepare for a different future.

 

At one time, the Wixom plant, a sprawling, 4.7-million- square-foot facility on the outskirts of Novi, proudly made four cars under one roof. But in recent years, the plant built weak-selling products, such as the Ford Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental, that seemed to foretell troubled times.

 

In 2002, Ford cut jobs and production at the factory. Lately, the plant has only been running one shift to build the Ford GT sports car, and the Lincoln LS and Lincoln Town Car, mid- and full-size luxury sedans.

 

While most assembly plants can build about 200,000 or so vehicles a year, the Wixom plant made 72,725 of those cars last year and all could be discontinued or built at other Ford factories.

 

Automotive industry experts have long thought that Ford, saddled with about four or five more assembly plants than it needs, should close Wixom.

 

But on Dec. 2, an article in the Wall Street Journal first raised public hopes that Wixom might live on, and that Ford's assembly plant in Atlanta, which builds the Ford Taurus, might be closed instead.

 

Ford insiders quietly dismissed the notion at the time, suggesting both could close, and even union leaders said they were skeptical that Wixom might remain open.

 

"It's a good rumor, but it's just that, a rumor," UAW Local 36 President Dave Berry said at the time.

 

Still, the hope that Wixom might be saved spread like wildfire in beaten-down metro Detroit, which had been battered with news about factory job cuts for weeks. Just a week before, nearly 60,000 job cuts had been announced in the area, including 30,000 by General Motors Corp. alone.

 

After that, the speculation on Wixom seemed to quiet down until the report from Global Insight.

 

Ford Motor has the ability to build between 800,000 and 1 million more vehicles than it can sell each year, a heavy cost to carry when Ford sales in the United States dropped 5.0% last year, to 3.2 million cars and trucks.

 

To bring those production costs in line with sales, Ford needs to eliminate about four or five of its 18 assembly plants in North America, which can make about 200,000 cars or trucks apiece, as well as several parts plants.

 

Erich Merkle, director of forecasting for IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, said that Ford needs to eliminate at least two car plants and will likely choose between factories in Atlanta, Wixom and St. Thomas, Ontario.

 

"It has to come from somewhere," Merkle said. "They have more plants than they need."

 

Monday's Way Forward restructuring plan will finally put the matter to rest.

 

Meanwhile, the restructuring plan will be the second one under the tenure of Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, who founded the company and left a proud legacy that the Ford family is determined to protect.

 

In 2002, Ford announced a revitalization that promised to close five plants, eliminate 35,000 jobs worldwide and bring 20 new or freshened products annually in the United States.

 

From 1999 to 2004, Ford eliminated 39,686 employees worldwide, ending 2004 with 324,864 workers. So Ford could cut about that many people or more between now and 2010.

 

 

Contact SARAH A. WEBSTER at 313-222-5394 or swebster@freepress.com.

[Footballfan]

This reporter has been rooting for a Wixom train wreck for several years now so she would have something to report. Plan could change by Monday? Give me a break!

Edited January 21, 2006 by Footballfan

[Heywood]

Ford Will Slash Capacity by 25%; 'In a Crisis Mode'

By JEFFREY MCCRACKEN

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

January 20, 2006 8:53 p.m.

 

Ford Motor Co. will announce Monday morning a sweeping restructuring of its unprofitable North American auto operations, a plan that will close at least 10 factories, including assembly plants in St. Louis and Atlanta, and trim 25,000 hourly jobs over the next four years. With salaried jobs added to that, the job cuts will number close to 30,000.

 

The auto maker will eliminate at least 25% of its annual car- and truck-making capacity, or more than one million vehicles from its current operations, say two people familiar with the plan. The plant in St. Louis, which builds the Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle, will go as the auto maker responds to tumbling SUV sales. The factory in Atlanta, long the home of the Ford Taurus, will be closed as that product is phased out. The Atlanta factory was once one of the most productive at Ford.

 

Ford's personnel cuts would amount to about 25% of the 122,000 people on its North American payroll. General Motors Corp., by comparison, has outlined plans to cut more than 30,000 jobs of 173,000 in North America, or about 17% percent of its total North American work force.

[bumpy Ride]1 BUMPY RIDE

 

Review key events2 affecting Ford's stock price over the past several years.

Also, compare details3 of Ford's restructuring plan to changes announced earlier by General Motors.

In its Monday announcement, Ford is expected to name some of the plants that will close. But others, such as one in Wixom, Mich., that Ford plans to close, won't be announced yet, while the auto maker deals with government bodies and decides where to move certain products. Ford currently has the capacity to build about 4.5 million vehicles in North America, using about 43 parts, stamping and assembly plants. But Ford sold only 3.15 million vehicles in the U.S. last year, according to Autodata.

 

The cuts at Ford are another milestone in the continuing shift of jobs and market power away from Detroit's two big unionized auto makers and toward foreign-owned auto makers and their largely nonunion North American factories. The U.S. auto industry's growth in output has outperformed overall U.S. manufacturing since 1990, and the industry still employs more than one million people, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. But now about a quarter of U.S. auto-industry workers are employed by foreign-owned manufacturers. The traditional, unionized Detroit Big Three auto makers -- which includes DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit -- have shed some 600,000 jobs since 1979.

 

Ford's overhaul will claim some senior executives, including North American sales chief Steve Lyons, and at least 10% of the salaried work force will be sacrificed, people familiar with the plans say. There will also be an emphasis made on cutting purchasing costs, say people familiar with the restructuring plan, which Ford has dubbed the "Way Forward."

 

Ford is scheduled to unveil the plan Monday morning after releasing its fourth-quarter 2005 financial results. Ford lost about $1.2 billion in North America through the first nine months of the year, although the company remains profitable overall for the year to date. Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt declined to comment on the plan or on Mr. Lyons's future.

 

The auto maker won't be able to show much Monday in the way of new products -- other than those already announced to the public -- to offset the cost cutting. Instead, Ford will accentuate an internal rethinking of the brand that aims to protect Ford's all-important base of truck buyers while attracting more female buyers with new cars.

 

Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Clay Ford Jr. has delegated leadership and execution of the company's latest turnaround effort to Mark Fields, a 44-year-old New Jersey native and Harvard M.B.A. Mr. Fields was put in charge of Ford's North American operations late last year, after he ran a successful overhaul at Mazda Motor Corp. and a subsequent turnaround at Ford's European operations that remains a work in progress.

 

Mr. Fields says his goal is to put workers "in a crisis mode, but not a panic." He says past turnaround plans, including one led by Mr. Ford in 2002, painted too rosy a picture of gas prices and of Ford's ability to charge more for new vehicles. That plan also underestimated competitors like Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. and didn't take into account that GM would continue with expensive incentives like zero-percent financing that Ford would be pressed to match.

 

"There is not a Big Three anymore. It is the up-for-grabs big six," said Mr. Fields in a recent interview. "We need to face the cold, hard reality of the situation."

 

Mr. Fields has a lot riding on the success of his plan, as does his ultimate boss, Mr. Ford, who is the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford. As chairman and chief executive, Mr. Ford effectively serves as the chief steward for one of the world's great industrial fortunes. Members of the Ford family control about 40% of the auto maker's voting shares, through ownership of super-voting Class B shares, and rely on the company's dividends for income.

 

Saddled with a junk-debt rating and reeling from a sharp drop in the U.S. market, Ford's fate has become a subject of speculation among investors and analysts. Some question whether the No. 2 U.S. auto maker would be able to avoid seeking the protection of bankruptcy courts to restructure its union contracts if its larger rival, GM, is forced to do so. Ford shares have fallen from about $14 to less than $8 in the past year. Both Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Corp. recently downgraded Ford's credit rating two notches, despite having some knowledge of the turnaround plan. GM and Ford executives have said they have ample cash and assets to weather the current troubles, and have no plans to seek bankruptcy-court protection.

"Ford's financial results in North America will be dismal into 2007," said Moody's analyst Bruce Clark. "Material improvement in operating and financial performance is likely to take several years to achieve." Ford stock closed down 3.9% at $7.90 in 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday. Ford shares are now down more than 40% from their 52-week high of $13.54.

 

No vehicle brands will be killed in the Monday announcement. Ford's Mercury brand was on the table for elimination but survived because of its ability to draw in female buyers, said people who worked on the plan.

One product category that will be discussed is the minivan, long a sagging business for Ford. Last year Ford Freestar sales fell 25% from 2004, and Mercury Monterey sales fell 53%, according to Autodata. Freestar, formerly known as Windstar, was remodeled for the 2004 model year, but sales have continued to slide.

Mr. Fields has internally expressed displeasure with Ford's minivan offerings and said publicly that it is "old thinking" to assume an auto maker has to be in all vehicle segments.

[mulewright]

Ford Will Slash Capacity by 25%; 'In a Crisis Mode'

 

 

In its Monday announcement, Ford is expected to name some of the plants that will close. But others, such as one in Wixom, Mich., that Ford plans to close, won't be announced yet, while the auto maker deals with government bodies and decides where to move certain products.

 

 

I expect Ford will close Wixom even though there are plenty of reasons why Wixom should be one of the plants kept open. Ford has a very small vision of it's future. No successful products = no jobs.

[mrballsonya]

Cedar Point is now officially looking into this whole Wixom saga for their next ULTRA ROLLER COASTER. The WIXOM THRILL RIDE, 4 years of Ups and downs (Mostly Downs) and now it sounds like the 23rd still won't give us any true answers. This is Unbearable.... How can they do this to People. :angry:

[Footballfan]

Cedar Point is now officially looking into this whole Wixom saga for their next ULTRA ROLLER COASTER. The WIXOM THRILL RIDE, 4 years of Ups and downs (Mostly Downs) and now it sounds like the 23rd still won't give us any true answers. This is Unbearable.... How can they do this to People. :angry:

 

When you're a spoiled brat like Jr. and Fields that have had everything handed to them on a silver platter all their lives, the "little people" like us do not matter. Besides- Jr. had more pressing matters this week like hiring another scrub for his daddy's loosing football team.

 

I agree with you- it is deplorable and immorral that folks are reading about their plant closings in the media. Let's see, based on reports, the only assembly plants that were not talked about as closure candidtates were Oakville, Ohio Assembly, Chicago Assembly, Auto Alliance, Dearborn Truck, Hermilsilo, and Kansas City. The rest were mentioned in at least one report or another.

[Bored of Pisteon]

If it does close, blame Granholm because she made the decision to take the rebuilding of the Wixom Rd. interchange off of MDOT's long term plans several years ago and now she wants to restore it? BULLSHIT!

 

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

Could somebody find chubby and tell him to get on these boards!

[youngSTAP]

If it does close, blame Granholm because she made the decision to take the rebuilding of the Wixom Rd. interchange off of MDOT's long term plans several years ago and now she wants to restore it? BULLSHIT!

 

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

Could somebody find chubby and tell him to get on these boards!

 

So how exactly is it that an old interstate interchange can be the reason for closing a plant down? Come on, sounds like you people are just buying into media bullshit.

 

Relax. Monday will come soon enough.

 

And then those of us that still have jobs may just appreciate them a bit more than we do today.

 

yS

[Footballfan]

If it does close, blame Granholm because she made the decision to take the rebuilding of the Wixom Rd. interchange off of MDOT's long term plans several years ago and now she wants to restore it? BULLSHIT!

 

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

Could somebody find chubby and tell him to get on these boards!

 

There is plenty of blame to go around including Granholm. When it was reported 3 years ago that Ford was considering dumping Wixom, she should have been in the media promoting a package for Wixom to stay- not after they have already decided. Now they are going to have a nice $70 million dollar interchange for a shopping center, or golf course, or any other bullshit use they are going to put at that site once it closes. I cant wait to November to vote her ass out.

 

It will be interesting to hear her State of the State addres Wednesday after Ford closes Wixom and perhaps Michigan Truck. What line of bullshit is she going to spill now. "Oh we are on the right track with the high-tech jobs package and Toyota office building in Ann Arbor." Hopefully one of those entities will give her a job about this time next year.

Edited January 21, 2006 by Footballfan

[Bored of Pisteon]

So how exactly is it that an old interstate interchange can be the reason for closing a plant down? Come on, sounds like you people are just buying into media bullshit.

 

Relax. Monday will come soon enough.

 

And then those of us that still have jobs may just appreciate them a bit more than we do today.

 

yS

 

Have you ever driven to Wixom or that general area or lived there like I did 10 years ago? That interchange was on the books to be rebuilt until your Canadian compadre' and her Motor City cronies in MDOT took it off the build schedule. That interchange is a logistical nightmare.

 

By the way, this headline is in today's newspaper. Just to sell newspapers... I'll buy mine for a quarter anywhere where I can get the chance.

 

I agree with you FootballFan, vote her ass out and then maybe the garbage from Canada will stop coming to Michigan once and for all. Also what would help is those bloodsucking parasite liberal cocksuckers are thrown out on their butts in the Parliamentary elections up there on Monday too!

[vmpp]

yeah now granholm has her aids going around telling all the media that they are aware of the closing of wixom and will work till the end to try to get it to stay open. just a ploy by her to look good in the press. and for the people not aware of the freeways by wixom, on a bet i got out of the car and walked 3 miles and still waited 5 minutes before the car caught up. no construction, just absolutely horrible driving conditions there. needs to be opened up to 5 lanes. i feel bad for everyone having to wait to see if they got a job come monday, and i really feel bad for the guys and girls who have 5-6 years in and got married and started a family and now are pretty much being told they won't have a job soon. a guy at our plant has 5 years and was told he is going to get laid off in february. tough times.

[mulewright]

Cedar Point is now officially looking into this whole Wixom saga for their next ULTRA ROLLER COASTER. The WIXOM THRILL RIDE, 4 years of Ups and downs (Mostly Downs) and now it sounds like the 23rd still won't give us any true answers. This is Unbearable.... How can they do this to People. :angry:

 

I think this "Way Forward" plan has been misnamed, it should be called "Clueless in Dearborn"

[Footballfan]

I had to chuckle when I read the Detroit Free Rag article on Wixom, and the sidbar that states the next biggest employer in Wixom next to Ford is the Meijer supermarket- a haven of minimum wage jobs. Talk about a city that is going from the penthouse (having the world's largest assembly plant) to the alley (largest employer is a supermarket) in terms of prestige. Well at least it will be easier to get in and ouyt of Meijer with that new $70 million interchange Granholm is building three years too late :rolleyes: That is so indiciative of what is going on in Michigan and the US. I think Ford should have named this plan the "Way Backwards"- backwards in market share, backwards in benefits, and backwords in the community.

[NorfolkBuilt]

Good God,that article isnt even from this year.NOBODY KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN UNTIL MONDAY,JANUARY 23RD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mtplifer]

I had to chuckle when I read the Detroit Free Rag article on Wixom, and the sidbar that states the next biggest employer in Wixom next to Ford is the Meijer supermarket- a haven of minimum wage jobs. Talk about a city that is going from the penthouse (having the world's largest assembly plant) to the alley (largest employer is a supermarket) in terms of prestige. Well at least it will be easier to get in and ouyt of Meijer with that new $70 million interchange Granholm is building three years too late :rolleyes: That is so indiciative of what is going on in Michigan and the US. I think Ford should have named this plan the "Way Backwards"- backwards in market share, backwards in benefits, and backwords in the community.

 

If Wixom does close will the company let Wixom workers displace, say for example, low seniority employees at Michigan Truck. I know what the contract says, but our contract seems to be worth nothing these days. Everybody seems to be concerned about plant closings, but nobody's talking about us losing our pensions in the near future. It's not a question about if, but when!

[Footballfan]

Just got done listening to the 6 O' Clock News. Rod Meloni of Channel 4/WDIV stated that his sources told him today that Wixom had a "very good" chance of remaining open, but that Ford may engage in Whipsawing by not announcing all of the plant closings on Monday but instead have the local unions fight with one another for concessions.

 

Fox 2 Detroit had a story about Wixom in which they presented a blurb from a Ford spokesperson who indicated that "much of the speculation (e.g. Free Press story) is wrong." Stay tuned and let's hope for the best.

[wildosvt]

Just got done listening to the 6 O' Clock News. Rod Meloni of Channel 4/WDIV stated that his sources told him today that Wixom had a "very good" chance of remaining open, but that Ford may engage in Whipsawing by not announcing all of the plant closings on Monday but instead have the local unions fight with one another for concessions.

 

Fox 2 Detroit had a story about Wixom in which they presented a blurb from a Ford spokesperson who indicated that "much of the speculation (e.g. Free Press story) is wrong." Stay tuned and let's hope for the best.

 

 

Rod's usually pretty good. Channel 4 is the only channel I watch for news. B)

[Savetheplanet]

Rod's usually pretty good. Channel 4 is the only channel I watch for news. B)

I have been with Ford for 20 yrs. I hope to get a buyout offer, if they give me 100K I will just walk.

 

Did you know that Ford has the worst CAFE standards of all the large manafactures?

Ford talks the talk about being "eco friendly" but they don't walk the walk. Did you know that in 2008 a new car feom China the Geely sedan that gets good MPG will be only $10,000?

 

3 billion ppl. just entered the playing feild from China and India with their version of the American dream, If they consume and pollute at the rate Americans do, the planet will be like a version of Dante's inferno for your grandkids.

Here is what your Union pres. has to say about it. http://jumpstartford.com/media_center/news_article/?id=1792

 

 

"We don't inherit the planet from our ancestor's, we borrow it from our granchildren"

 

Buyout monday? where do I sign up?

Edited January 22, 2006 by Savetheplanet

[Len_A]

I have been with Ford for 20 yrs. I hope to get a buyout offer, if they give me 100K I will just walk.

 

Did you know that Ford has the worst CAFE standards of all the large manafactures?

Ford talks the talk about being "eco friendly" but they don't walk the walk. Did you know that in 2008 a new car feom China the Geely sedan that gets good MPG will be only $10,000?

 

3 billion ppl. just entered the playing feild from China and India with their version of the American dream, If they consume and pollute at the rate Americans do, the planet will be like a version of Dante's inferno for your grandkids.

Here is what your Union pres. has to say about it. http://jumpstartford.com/media_center/news_article/?id=1792

 

 

"We don't inherit the planet from our ancestor's, we borrow it from our granchildren"

 

Buyout monday? where do I sign up?

 

go away

[Firefly]

I wonder how many non-Fords in the Wixom lot?

[mulewright]

If Wixom does close will the company let Wixom workers displace, say for example, low seniority employees at Michigan Truck. I know what the contract says, but our contract seems to be worth nothing these days. Everybody seems to be concerned about plant closings, but nobody's talking about us losing our pensions in the near future. It's not a question about if, but when!

I don't think companywide seniority will happen before contract but if Ford and GM lay off the numbers they're talking about it could very well be an issue next contract.

[Heywood]

I wonder how many non-Fords in the Wixom lot?

 

Speaking of parking lots:

 

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../C01-115531.htm

 

and

 

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../A01-117640.htm

 

 

Not your finest hour, eh Pioneer?

[dark270]

Speaking of parking lots:

 

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../C01-115531.htm

 

and

 

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../A01-117640.htm

Not your finest hour, eh Pioneer?

'

 

 

 

 

WTF??? did you see the date on that shit???

 

woodie get a life...this is old news ALMOST a year ago.....(hmm.... more salary that ford needs to get rid of)

[Shortimer]

I just watched channel 7 Action News(Detroit) , at noon. Now the press is saying their hearing from one source that Wixom is staying open and another saying it will close. Give us all a friggin break, will you please. These belly crawlers will do anything to sell themsleves and their stories?

Edited January 22, 2006 by Shortimer

[PFA]

Speaking of parking lots:

 

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../C01-115531.htm

 

and

 

http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0.../A01-117640.htm

Not your finest hour, eh Pioneer?

What a bunch of shit!!!!!! I guess we could hash this out. What the hell are the Marines doing driving foreign shit anyway? Do they enjoy helping out the other countries?