AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/21 Report--

Ford Motor Company announced that it would lay off about 7000 white-collar workers worldwide by the end of August, accounting for 10 per cent of Ford's 70, 000 salaried employees worldwide. The move is part of Ford's restructuring of its global operations, which will not only help the company save about $600 million a year through layoffs, but also help restructure its team to be more flexible in dealing with competition.

Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in an employee email that the restructuring plan is in its final stages, which will reduce the company's management structure by nearly 20%, and that the company has made great progress in eliminating bureaucracy, speeding up decision-making and promoting empowerment.

The email also said that restructuring in Europe, China, South America and other markets is continuing and is expected to be completed by the end of August.

In 2018, Ford put forward a plan to completely restructure the company at a cost of $11 billion over the next three to five years. Ford hopes to clean up its operations and build a more efficient enterprise with fewer white-collar jobs, known as "eliminating bureaucracy." achieve cost reduction and efficiency, so as to reverse the company's declining momentum and be more flexible in response to market competition. The layoffs include restructuring management teams in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.

In February, the New York Times reported that Ford's Chinese joint venture had begun to lay off thousands of workers. In March, Ford plans big job cuts in Europe, including 5000 jobs in Germany and more in the UK.

Ford's global business restructuring includes, in addition to layoffs, a complete replacement of its North American product line, the announcement of the suspension of some models in South America, the restructuring of its European operations, and the closure of factories and layoffs to stop production of models.

Ford sold 5.734 million vehicles worldwide in 2018, down 8.9% from a year earlier, of which Ford sold 752000 vehicles in China in 2018, down 36.9% from 2017. In terms of performance, Ford's revenue in 2018 was $160.338 billion, up 2.3% from a year earlier, while net profit was $3.677 billion, down 52.4% from a year earlier. Of this total, Ford lost US $1.1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region, mainly due to a setback in its Chinese business.

In addition, Ford's total global revenue in the first quarter of this year was $40.34 billion, down 4 per cent from $41.96 billion in the same period last year, while net profit plunged 34 per cent to $1.15 billion. In the first quarter of this year, Ford sold 136000 vehicles in China, down 35.8% from a year earlier.

The global automobile industry has entered a cold winter, and news of layoffs has spread widely among major groups, including Volkswagen, Land Rover, GM and so on. Ford's continued decline in the Chinese market will also have a big impact on its global business.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat