Ford to cut its Asian and N American workforce by 10%

Ford could cut 10% of its workforce across North America and Asia as part of the brand's latest cost-cutting measures, Reuters reports.

A source close to the plan said that the cuts, which are part of a $3 billion (around Rs 18,951 crore) cost-cutting scheme, aims to maximise its profits and correct a fall in its stock price.

Only salaried workers in the USA and Asia would be affected. 

Ford has around 200,000 employees worldwide, half of which are in the USA. Of those, 30,000 positions are salaried which means job cuts could amount to 3000.

The car maker also has around 25,000 employees in Asia, but there are no figures on how many of these are salaried.

Ford told Reuters that it remains "focused on the three strategic priorities that will create value and drive profitable growth, which include fortifying the profit pillars in our core business, transforming traditionally underperforming areas of our core business and investing aggressively, but prudently, in emerging opportunities. Reducing costs and becoming as lean and efficient as possible also remain part of that work. We have not announced any new people efficiency actions, nor do we comment on speculation”.

When Autocar UK asked Ford UK whether British or European jobs could be affected, it replied with the same response.

In India, Ford employs a total of around 14,000 people across operations. In response to a query by Autocar Professional, a company spokesperson said, "There is no downsizing in recent times as we have only added with Chennai or Sanand (plants) or the upcoming Technology and PD Center." However, there was no information about any impact of the latest downsizing strategy in India.  

After seemingly appeasing US president Donald Trump last year with the cancellation of a proposed $1.7 billion (Rs 10,738 crore) Mexico-based factory and the announcement of a $700 million (Rs 4,421 crore) investment into a plant in Michigan, US, the move could anger the famously nationalistic Republican president. Prior to his inauguration, Trump crusaded against the outsourcing of America’s car industry to Mexico.

Ford also recently called into question the future of its investments in its UK plants ahead of Brexit negotiations and stated its desire for a transition agreement if trade agreements can’t be reached within two years. In 2016, Ford knocked £81 million off of its £181 million investment in its engine plant in Bridgend, Wales.