Ford Set to Lay Off 700 at Michigan Assembly
Lower fuel prices have created a resurgence in demand for larger vehicles. Because of this, sales of small cars and battery-electric vehicles have diminished. Unfortunately, as a result, that means that production must be cut. In the case of Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, that means 700 people will be out of a job as a shift gets cut.
In order to lay off employees, Ford is required to notify the State of Michigan in advance of these layoffs. So that announcement came today. 675 hourly employees will be cut, alongside 25 salaried positions. That will start on June 22nd. 200 of them will be laid off then, an additional 200 at the end of July, and the remaining employees at the end of September.
The Michigan Assembly Plant is responsible for production of the Ford Focus, Focus ST, Focus Electric, C-Max Hybrid, and C-Max Plug-In Hybrid.
There is some potential good news for the laid off workers. Ford rejected a plan of having rolling layoffs at the plant to keep everyone there because Ford is hoping to have everyone redeployed elsewhere. Even if sales of the Focus and C-Max are down, Ford is still doing very well in other areas, including trucks.
Hopefully this downturn in sales doesn’t affect Ford’s decision to bring speciality models based on the platform, such as the new Focus RS, into production.
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via [Detroit Free Press]
