On April 21, Ford Motor Co. posted a massive quarterly loss of $1.2 billion in the face of a sales decline and a restructuring plan that envisages up to 30,000 job cuts. The loss in the January-March quarter compared with a profit of $1.2 billion in the same quarter of 2005.
The first quarter included a charge of $1.7 billion for costs related to Ford's "Way Forward" recovery plan.
Ford said this week that it would take charges of about $2.4 billion in 2006 as part of the plan to shut down 14 facilities by 2012 and cut up to 30,000 jobs.
Revenues fell 9% to $41.05 billion in the first quarter.
"We are all mindful of the industry environment, the pressure on our suppliers and dealers, unfavorable market share trends, and the fact that our issues in North America are structural rather than cyclical," Bill Ford said. "That is why we remind our people that we will either change ourselves -- or be changed by someone else."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
