AFP, New York :
Struggling with a sagging stock price and sluggish sales, US car giant Ford took steps to regain its footing this week with the announcement of a massive restructuring effort in Europe -even as it prepared for an imminent strategic partnership with German carmaker Volkswagen.
The iconic American brand will roll out a major reorganization of its European operations to boost profitability, including thousands of potential job cuts.
It was also poised to announce a major alliance with VW next week, as it races to catch up in autonomous and electric car technologies.
Ford, which employs 200,000 people worldwide and brought in nearly $146 billion in revenue in 2017, has previously said it wants to cut costs by about $25.5 billion by 2022.
According to analysts, 24,000 jobs are under threat.
Ford already stopped producing sedans and small cars to save $11 billion in the US – and it might also scrap the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo models in Europe, where they are popular.
Additional cost cutting could include the shuttering of underused US factories, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, despite President Donald Trump’s public pressure on auto makers to maintain their US workforces.
It could also hit China and Latin America, two markets where Ford is struggling, a source familiar with the plans told AFP.
In total, the cuts could save Ford $14 billion in its international operations.
“This is not about making the business today more efficient, but completely redesigning it,” said Steve Armstrong, Ford’s chief of Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.
Struggling with a sagging stock price and sluggish sales, US car giant Ford took steps to regain its footing this week with the announcement of a massive restructuring effort in Europe -even as it prepared for an imminent strategic partnership with German carmaker Volkswagen.
The iconic American brand will roll out a major reorganization of its European operations to boost profitability, including thousands of potential job cuts.
It was also poised to announce a major alliance with VW next week, as it races to catch up in autonomous and electric car technologies.
Ford, which employs 200,000 people worldwide and brought in nearly $146 billion in revenue in 2017, has previously said it wants to cut costs by about $25.5 billion by 2022.
According to analysts, 24,000 jobs are under threat.
Ford already stopped producing sedans and small cars to save $11 billion in the US – and it might also scrap the Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo models in Europe, where they are popular.
Additional cost cutting could include the shuttering of underused US factories, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, despite President Donald Trump’s public pressure on auto makers to maintain their US workforces.
It could also hit China and Latin America, two markets where Ford is struggling, a source familiar with the plans told AFP.
In total, the cuts could save Ford $14 billion in its international operations.
“This is not about making the business today more efficient, but completely redesigning it,” said Steve Armstrong, Ford’s chief of Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.
