Reply #16: Ford's fix-it plan (Up to 30,000 layoffs; at least 10 plants to close)

[Thom Little]

Ford Motor Co. executives will present a restructuring plan to the company's board of directors today that calls for closing at least 10 assembly and component plants and eliminating 25,000 to 30,000 hourly jobs in North America within five years, according to people familiar with the plan.

The cuts would be deeper than many had expected, signaling the urgency of Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr.'s push to restore the automaker's ailing North American operations.

Bill Ford has promised the impending moves, expected to be announced Jan. 23, will affect all levels of the company. As such, the automaker will announce the departure of as many as seven top executives in the coming weeks, according to the people familiar with the plan.

The broad outlines of Ford's plan -- dubbed the "way forward" -- were approved by directors at an off-site meeting in October with top executives in South Carolina.



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