Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting article Ford May Go Deeper With Job Cuts (subscription required) that discusses further cuts at Ford Motor Co.
Ford Motor Co. is looking to make deeper cuts in its North American salaried work force than it has disclosed thus far, and some employees say they have been told reductions over the next few years could eliminate as much as 30% of the current white-collar work force.
A company spokesman declined to comment on specific figures but confirmed management is considering more-aggressive measures to reduce costs that could include further jobs cuts. A cut of 30% of white-collar jobs in the auto maker's North American auto operations would translate into an elimination of about 10,500 salaried positions from the current total of about 35,000.
Again, we see the North American producers continuing to reduce costs. However, those savings are likely to be passed directly to the consumers in the form of incentives and lower costs. Similarly for GM, while I believe its health care issues will likely be addressed, I also believe that the resulting savings will be passed directly to the consumers.
The auto industry is in a difficult position with no easy way out. One only has to think back a few years to the appliance manufacturers.
I remain short GM shares.
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