The chief designer for the Ford Flex crossover car, Richard Gresens has left Ford Motor Co., but reason behind this remains unclear.

Although some sources assume that Gresens’ departure was related to company’s effort to cut salaried jobs. Ford has been in the process of reducing salary- related costs by 15 percent in North America by August 1. Sources say Gresens could have found himself a casualty of Ford’s recent restructuring effort.

Ford spokeswoman, Charlotte Fisher confirmed the news but declined to comment on the reason for Gresens’ step-out as well as layoff. (more…)

One of the world’s largest automakers, Ford Motor Co. posted the biggest quarterly loss in its history in the second quarter of 2008. The automaker lost $8.7 billion, as the buying trends shifted from
gas- guzzling trucks and SUVs towards fuel- efficient smaller vehicles and hybrids.

Ford took a huge charge for reducing the value of various troubled assets in the second quarter. The net loss includes a pre-tax special charge of $8 billion, of which $5.3 billion was for Ford North America alone. The North America unit posted a $1.3 billion pre-tax loss in the quarter, as compared to a $270 million loss during the same period in 2007. The Volvo unit lost $120 million, compared to a loss of $91 million a year ago. (more…)

Ford Motor Co. announced that it will make buyout offers to hourly workers at its several plants across Southeast Michigan and Northern Ohio. The company made buyout offers previously in June and it’s planning to extend another round of offers as the company struggles to reduce production capacity to match declining demand for its cars and trucks.

The company is planning to offer the buyouts to workers at about fourteen plants, starting next week as it looks to trim its workforce to match a declining U.S. market share. Reportedly, Ford posted a $2.7 billion loss in 2007 and has abandoned a long-standing goal of returning to profitability in 2009. The automaker had previously extended buyout offers at plants in Kentucky and Ohio due to the declining demand for large pickup trucks and SUVs. (more…)

Kirk Kerkorian’s investment company, Tracinda has launched a tender offer of 20 million additional shares of Ford Motor Company on May 9, which has been attracting many Ford investors. 

The investment company on Tuesday said that its tender offer of $8.50 a share drew offers of more than 1 billion of the company’s shares. It will buy 20 million shares for about $170 million, which will further help the company increase its stake in the automaker to about 5.5 percent. (more…)

Ford Motor Company plans to conduct involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August 1, 2008.

It has been told by the company officials that, Ford would cut 10 to 12 percent or more than 2,000 employees this summer.

Ford spokesman, Mark Truby said, “We’re not going to comment on internal discussions we’re having with our employees. As soon as we finalize some of these details, we’re going to tell our employees as quickly as we can.”

The J.D. Power and Associates has released its 2008 Initial Quality Study results on June 4. This year has showed the overall quality improvement with 118 problems per 100 vehicles. Last year, the study reported 125 problems per 100 vehicles.

The quality study tallies the problems reported per 100 vehicles by owners of new vehicles, 90 days after purchase. The survey includes design complaints as well as manufacturing defects and the complaints could be a button or a switch on the instrument panel, or an uncomfortable seat.

According to the report, the Ford and Mercury brands jumped two positions and were the shining stars at the quality study. Both the brands cracked the top eight rankings in the latest study. Ford Motor’s eleven nameplates out of fourteen have showed the significant improvement.

However, Ford’s Lincoln dropped drastically to number 15, from its number 3 spot in 2007. Global manager of quality data at Ford, Mike Hardie said that the navigation and voice command issues were to blame for Lincoln’s falter. He further added, “We’re taking a look right now to resolve those issues to mitigate those for customers in the future.”

Audi has posted the largest improvement in the latest ranking, moving from bottom fourth rankings in 2007 to number 10 this year. It has shed 23 defects as compared to the last year.

Porsche held on to its number 1 spot followed by Infiniti and Lexus. The Porsche 911 has the fewest quality problems in the industry, with just 67 problems per 100 vehicles. For the third consecutive year, Porsche tops the overall nameplate rankings.

Infiniti improved from 9th position in the last year to 2nd position in 2008. Toyota tied with Mercedes-Benz at number 4 position.

GM could not make it to the top 10 with any of its brands. However, its four brands such as Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and Pontiac- all rose from below average last year to above average in the 2008 study.

General Motors’ Chevrolet Malibu sedan has collected the top award in the mid-sized car segment.

According to GM’s top quality executive, Jamie Hresko “When the customer spoke here, it validated that we are doing all right.” The executive further said, “I think one of the big keys was that our launches are helping us, not hurting us. I’m not sure it’s a grand slam, but we did very well.”

Interestingly, one of the U.S. notable automakers, Chrysler LLC’s brands remained at below the industry average in the ratings. Jeep was the industry’s worst at 167 problems. Dodge and Chrysler placed in the 28th and 29th position, or in the bottom fourth of all brands in the rankings.

Honda models capture three segment awards, more than any other nameplate in the 2008 study for the Civic, CR-V and Fit. Garnering two segment awards each were Chevrolet with Malibu and Silverado LD; Dodge with Dakota and Durango; Infiniti with EX-Series and M-Series; Lexus with LS and RX; and Mercedes-Benz with CLK-Class and E-Class.

Ford Motor Company plans to conduct involuntary layoffs of salaried employees by August 1, 2008.

It has been told by the company officials that, Ford would cut 10 to 12 percent or more than 2,000 employees this summer.

Ford spokesman, Mark Truby said, “We’re not going to comment on internal discussions we’re having with our employees. As soon as we finalize some of these details, we’re going to tell our employees as quickly as we can.”

The severe cut in Ford’s production that has been lowering its 2009 profitability goal, has finally compelled the automaker to reach such a tough decision. The sales have slumped severely, especially for large pickups and SUVs.

With the cuts in work force, the company is expecting to restructure the slumped sales, which is mainly struggling due to high gas and raw material prices.

In the second quarter of 2008, Ford has reduced its production by 15 percent as compared to the same quarter last year. It has been expected that, the third and fourth quarter will account for a fall in production as much as 20 percent and 8 percent respectively.

The employees who will be terminated, would not be offered voluntary buyout packages with financial or early retirement incentives.

Earlier, Ford had terminated 11,000 salaried workers in North America since the end of 2005, by offering voluntary buyouts and early retirement incentives. Ford had a total of 23,700 salaried workers at the end of 2007. The large number of cut has reduced its full-time salaried workers.

Ford Motor Company is all set to build its new global car in Mexico for the United States market. The company has confirmed the name of the new model, the Fiesta.

But the company’s officials stayed away from commenting on the news except to say they are planning to bring the car to North America by 2010. They have not confirmed where the car will build in the United States.

Reportedly, the new three and five-door hatchback version will hit the markets in Europe and China by the end of this year.

According to Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally, “With the all-new Fiesta, we want to create a world standard for small car quality, design and comfort in a vehicle that is as exciting to drive as it is to look at. We believe this all-new model will attract a whole new generation of small car buyers.” 

Other versions of Fiesta, including a four-door sedan, will also reach the auto markets in North America, Asia, South Africa and Australia by 2010.

The company has sold a total of 12 million of its original Ford Fiesta since the vehicle was introduced in 1976. It was only sold in the U.S. from 1978 to 1980. Ford Fiesta has been a familiar name in the European, Asian and South African markets.

Ford Motor Company has announced to launch the new hatchback version of the Fiesta in North America by 2010.

The car will enter along with the sedan in the North American market. Ford will build the hatchback version and sedan at its Cuautitlan plant in Mexico.

The plant is currently the manufacturer of the F-Series pickups for the Mexico market. But, it will soon transform into a plant that will build small cars for all of North America. The company officials confirmed that after the transformation is over, the pickups for the Mexico market will come from the U.S. plants.

The Cuautitlan plant in Mexico which builds 1-4 engines, will also make diesel engines for light and medium-duty trucks for the global market. Ford also has another plan in future to build a transmission plant in Guanajuato as part of a joint venture with German supplier Getrag.

The new multi-development effort accounts a $3 billion U.S. investment It is expected that the move will create approximately 4,500 jobs in Ford.

According to Ford’s insiders, the Fiesta will give Ford a fuel-efficient competitor against the cars such as Honda Fit and Nissan Versa. But, it is yet to be decided which configuration of the hatchback car will be built for the North American market.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally said, “Ford is absolutely committed to leveraging our global assets to accelerate the shift to more fuel-efficient small cars and powertrain technologies that people really want and value.” He further added, “Our investments in these facilities in Mexico are part of our plan to further realign our manufacturing capacity in line with the introduction of more small cars and crossovers.”

Ford is expected to increase its production in Mexico to nearly 500,000 vehicles and 330,000 transmissions by 2012. Ford’s current capacity is about 296,000 vehicles.