Post by TonyV on Feb 16, 2010 17:28:47 GMT -5
Last Updated: February 16. 2010 2:32PM .
Ford to eliminate 900 jobs in Flat Rock
Alisa Priddle / The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co. will cut 900 workers at the Flat Rock plant in July but increase production of the Ford Mustang and Mazda6 assembled there on a single shift.
Workers at the plant were notified Monday that the operation, which currently employs 2,280, will be reduced to a single shift July 12. The expectation is most will be transferred to other Ford plants, said spokeswoman Marcey Evans.
Flat Rock, which is jointly owned by Mazda Motor Corp., assembled about 102,000 cars in 2009, and the forecast is to increase output this year, Evans said, helped by the new 2011 Mustang with a new, more fuel-efficient engine.
To do so, line speed will be increased about 35 percent, making the operation more efficient.
The plant had a lot of downtime last year as Mustang sales fell 27 percent and Mazda6 sales were off 34 percent. Reducing Flat Rock to a single-shift operation should provide more stability for the remaining workers, Evans said.
Some workers will be absorbed into the Chicago assembly plant, which is adding a second shift of 1,200 employees in the third quarter to prepare for the fourth-quarter launch of the all-new Ford Explorer. Ford is replacing its long-time SUV with a unibody, or car-based, utility vehicle it hopes will resonate better with buyers who gravitated away from trucks when gas prices rose.
Additional workers also will be needed at Michigan Assembly in Wayne this year. The plant that had been making the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator full-size SUVs was gutted and is being retooled to make the next-generation Ford Focus compact sedan in the fourth quarter.
"We expect the vast majority of employees will be able to go elsewhere and stay with Ford," Evans said.