Ford will shed sales job to improve performance
DETROIT (AP) – Ford Motor Co., hurt by flat sales and high costs, is consolidating its Ford and Lincoln Mercury marketing divisions and shedding sales jobs, the company said Tuesday. The No. 2 U.S. automaker is reducing the number of regions covered by its field offices from 17 to 11 as part of the plan. The regional offices sell vehicles to Ford’s 4,000 U.S. dealerships and handle local marketing. Regional customer service offices also will be cut.
Ford is closing regional offices in Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Seattle, but will keep some staff in those cities, Lincoln Mercury spokeswoman Sara Tatchio said.
“There will be nothing apparent to the customer,” Tatchio said.
Tatchio wouldn’t say how many jobs will be affected, but the Dearborn-based automaker has said it wants to cut at least 1,750 more jobs before the end of this year. Ford has 3,500 employees on its sales, marketing and service staff.
Steve Lyons, Ford’s vice president for North American marketing and sales, said the consolidation will help dealers because they’ll learn about new tools and techniques more quickly.
But Jim Sanfilippo of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. said the change is troubling because Ford set an industry standard with the well-trained staff at its regional sales offices.
“Ford basically invented this,” Sanfilippo said. “The quality of Ford field management is notorious. They’re tough and they’re good.”
Sanfilippo said foreign brands such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. adopted Ford’s strategy and have large staffs to help dealers. But General Motors Corp. went through a similar consolidation several years ago and its relationship with dealers suffered, Sanfilippo said.
“I don’t doubt for a second that Ford is doing this with some trepidation,” he said.
The move is part of a larger cost-cutting effort at Ford, which is saddled with high labor and health-care costs at the same time its U.S. market share is falling. Ford’s U.S. market share was down in the January-July period, from 18.5 percent in 2004 to 17.9 percent this year.
Ford’s profits fell 19 percent in the second quarter, to $946 million from $1.17 billion a year ago. Its sales were flat in the first seven months of this year.
Ford spokesman Oscar Suris said Tuesday that the company’s goal is to reduce its salaried work force in North America by 2,750 jobs. More than 1,000 people had left the company through buyouts and layoffs at the end of July. Ford has 35,000 salaried workers in North America.
Lyons will continue to lead North American sales and marketing operations. Darryl Hazel, formerly head of the Ford division, will be vice president of marketing, while Al Giombetti, formerly vice president of the Lincoln Mercury division, will be vice president of sales.
Ford shares rose 6 cents to $10.43 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Ford Motor Co.: http://www.ford.com
AP-ES-08-09-05 1313EDT