Ford to Cut Shifts at Michigan and Kentucky Plants
Ford Motor Co. plans to eliminate shifts at its vehicle assembly plants in Flat Rock, Mich., and Louisville, Ky., next spring. The move will affect 1,150 workers, all of whom will be offered jobs at other facilities.
Ford Motor Co. plans to eliminate shifts at its vehicle assembly plants in Flat Rock, Mich., and Louisville, Ky., next spring. The move will affect 1,150 workers, all of whom will be offered jobs at other facilities.
The carmaker’s Michigan plant in Flat Rock, which builds the Mustang muscle car and Lincoln Continental sedan, will go from two shifts to one, displacing 650 hourly workers.
About 500 of those employees will be moved to Ford’s transmission plant in Livonia, Mich., which supplies gearboxes for the company’s hot-selling trucks and SUVs. The remaining Flat Rock workers will be offered jobs at other Ford facilities.
In Kentucky, the company will reduce daily shifts from three to two at its Louisville Assembly Plant, which makes the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC crossovers. Some 500 workers will transfer to Ford’s nearby truck plant in Louisville, which builds F-Series Super Duty pickups and fullsize SUVs.
Ford says the moves will allow it to hike production 20% for its profitable Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs at Kentucky Truck. Earlier this year, the carmaker announced plans to boost production of that model 25% because of high demand.
Ford’s production alignment follows General Motors Co. announced plans earlier this week to close four factories and eliminate about 14,000 jobs in North America.
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