Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[27,000 Ford workers have officially left the building]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/14/27-000-ford-workers-have-officially-left-the-building/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/14/27-000-ford-workers-have-officially-left-the-building/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/14/27-000-ford-workers-have-officially-left-the-building/#commentsFiled under: ,



The Detroit Free Press is reporting today that since Ford began offering buyouts and early retirement offers to its hourly employees last year, about 27,000 have accepted and left the company. Since the offer was made last October to hourly workers at all of Ford's plants in North America, about 8,000 before the ball dropped on 2007 and 19,000 so far this year. Fortunately for Ford, about half were not eligible for early retirement, which means the automaker takes on less long-term retiree health care liability. Some of the workers who clocked out early include employees of Visteon plants, as well.

[Source: Detroit Free Press]

27,000 Ford workers have officially left the building originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in June of last year, Ikuo Mori took the helm as Fuji Heavy Industries' CEO. His task: end Subaru's five-year long sales slump. Subaru's retail efforts have not lived up the automaker's expectations set in 2002, with a failed attempt at moving the brand up market and the slow sales of its visually challenged B9 Tribeca SUV (does the backend remind anyone else of a Morlock?) doing little to improve the brand's bottom line.

Little has been revealed about Mori's turnaround efforts, but in Subaru's annual report, he hinted that the automaker's focus on engineering over consumer appeal might be one of the first things to be nixed. A more focused effort on the company's core business - automobiles - will be at the forefront, with a reduction in some of FHI's outlying endeavors, including its work in the aerospace industry.

Whether or not the future of Subaru lays in better brand management, with a special focus on its devotees, remains to be seen. But outside of several niche automakers, Subaru has a number of dedicated buyers in the U.S. and if Subaru wants to expand its market share, they'll have to make an attempt to encapsulate that enthusiasm to attract more people into their showrooms.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Subaru's 'new course' soon to be outlined originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrysler Group CEO Tom LaSorda travelled to DaimlerChrysler's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, last Wednesday to present a restructuring plan to the company's management board. The Detroit News reports that the plan will involve job cuts and and the closing of at least two plants in the U.S. The plan will be reviewed by the DCX management board and likely announced in February when the company reveals its performance numbers for 2006, which analysts expect to be billions in the red.

Just like Ford with its Way Forward restructuring plan, Chrysler needs to trim down the production side of its business to meet lower demand for its vehicles that led to a loss of $1.5 billion in Q3 of 2006. In addition to shrinking its production capacity, any analyst will tell you that Chrysler also needs more small cars in its lineup, which at the moment is overrun with trucks, minivans and SUVs.

Though the Chrysler Group is still run by Tom LaSorda, many are speculating that Dieter Zetsche wants to bring back his guy pal Wolfgang Bernhard, current head of the Volkswagen brand, to run the stumbling automaker. Other initiatives that are already happening include bringing in executives from Mercedes-Benz to the Chrysler Group reduce the cost of each vehicle it produces by $1,000. Clearly DaimlerChrysler is putting effort into fixing what's broken at the Chrysler Group, though some analysts speculate that the restructuring plan announced in February will be its last attempt before selling off the automaker it had "merged" with back in 1998.

Chrysler to present restructuring plan in February originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Dec 2006 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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