Ford Motor Company is finalising a sweeping overhaul of its US operations, likely to mean several thousand job losses, the Financial Timesreported in its online edition, citing company officials.
The main points of the restructuring - to be presented to Ford's board and senior management in mid-December - have been agreed following the removal last month of Mr Jac Nasser as chief executive, the report said.
According to the FT, the restructuring is expected to include an end to overtime working at several plants and mothballing others; a 20 per cent cut in the white-collar workforce - about 8,000 job cuts; and the possible withdrawal from non-core Internet and service sectors.
Possible disposals include KwikFit, the repair chain acquired by Ford in 1999.
A Ford official, who declined to be named, said the board "would see in lurid detail what it actually means to be in a downturn in the auto industry. When it declines you go off a cliff".
Ford will address four broad areas - overhead costs, manufacturing capacity, product development, and quality, the FTsaid.
Elements of Ford's European "transformation strategy", where the carmaker has reversed annual losses of $1 billion, may form part of the North American shake-up.
PA
