Tag: FORD

Categories
Business India News Tech Lite

Ford India Explores Options for Chennai Plant Sale

ford.(photo:pixabay.com)

Ford India is looking out for a buyer for its Chennai plant after it shut down Indian manufacturing operations here and in Gujarat….reports Asian Lite News

Several people have come and are coming to see the company’s plant here and have gone, but nothing concrete has come out, said a source close to Ford India Private Ltd.

Ford India is looking out for a buyer for its Chennai plant after it shut down Indian manufacturing operations here and in Gujarat.

Ford India had earlier sold its Gujarat plant to Tata Group.

The latest name that is being said as the potential buyer of the Chennai plant is steel major JSW group led by Sajjan Jindal.

“A small team of officials are working on selling the Chennai plant. There is no internal mail announcing the plant sale to Jindal group,” a senior official preferring anonymity told IANS.

“Nothing concrete seems to have happened with regard to Ford India’s Chennai plant. People are saying JSW group is interested in the plant now,” a source not wanting to be identified told IANS.

According to reports, the JSW group will be floating a new company to acquire a considerable stake in MG Motors India, holding talks with a Chinese electric vehicle company and also buying Ford India’s Chennai plant.

“We continue to explore alternatives for the Chennai plant and have nothing further to add,” Ford India told.

It was also speculated that Vietnamese automobile company VinFast was also interested in Ford India’s Chennai plant.

In September 2021, Ford India announced its decision to wind down vehicle assembly in Gujarat’s Sanand vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai.

Ford India had set up four plants in the country — vehicle and engine plants in Chennai and Sanand.

The company sold its Gujarat facility for Rs 725.70 crore to Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd.

The plant in Sanand includes the entire land and buildings, the vehicle manufacturing plant, along with its machinery and equipment, and transfer of all eligible employees of Ford India’s vehicle manufacturing operations.

Ford India is operating its powertrain manufacturing facility by leasing back the land and buildings of the powertrain manufacturing plant from Tata Passenger Electric.

It is said some of the former workers have been reengaged on contract basis by Ford India for maintenance of the Chennai plant.

ALSO READ: India’s Metro Network Set to Overtake USA

Categories
Business Economy

Ford gears up for fresh job cuts

Ford gears up for new job cut round amid shift to EVs

The company laid off about 3,000 employees in August last year….reports Asian Lite News

US automaker Ford is preparing to cut more jobs as it directs more investments towards building electric vehicles (EVs).

The fresh layoffs could be announced as soon as next week, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The company laid off about 3,000 employees in August last year.

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said that the automaker has more work to do than its competitors to get costs in line.

“Ford Motor is preparing to initiate another round of layoffs in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest in a broader effort by the automaker to streamline operations and reduce costs,” the report mentioned.

Last month, Ford Motor reached an agreement with Elon Musk-run Tesla that will provide Ford electric vehicle customers access to more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the US and Canada, doubling the number of fast-chargers available to Ford EV customers starting spring 2024.

In 2025, Ford will offer next-generation electric vehicles with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector built-in, eliminating the need for an adapter to access Tesla Superchargers.

In August 2022, Ford laid off about 3,000 employees and contract workers, with the cuts primarily affecting staff in the US, Canada, and India.

“Building this future requires changing and reshaping virtually all aspects of the way we have operated for more than a century. It requires focus, clarity and speed. And, as we have discussed in recent months, it means redeploying resources and addressing our cost structure, which is uncompetitive versus traditional and new competitors,” the company had said in a memo.

Overall, the company had reduced salaried workforce by about 2,000, as well as reducing agency personnel by about 1,000.

ALSO READ: UST teams up with Plutora to streamline cloud ops

Categories
Business Europe Motoring

Ford to cut 3,800 jobs in Europe

ford.(photo:pixabay.com)

By 2025, Ford plans to resize its European engineering footprint, resulting in 2,800 fewer jobs….reports Asian Lite News

US automaker Ford on Tuesday announced it will eliminate 3,800 jobs over the next three years in Europe to restructure its business, creating a leaner, more competitive cost structure.

By 2025, Ford plans to resize its European engineering footprint, resulting in 2,800 fewer jobs. These changes are driven by the transition to fully electric powertrains and reduced vehicle complexity.

Additionally, a leaner cost structure will be created for Ford’s administrative, marketing, sales and distribution functions in Europe, which includes the elimination of approximately 1,000 positions.

Ford said it will maintain an engineering organisation of approximately 3,400 roles in Europe, focused on vehicle design and development, as well as the creation of connected services.

“Paving the way to a sustainably profitable future for Ford in Europe requires broad-based actions and changes in the way we develop, build, and sell Ford vehicles. This will impact the organisational structure, talent, and skills we will need in the future,” said Martin Sander, General Manager of Ford Model e in Europe.

The actions align Ford’s product development organisation and administrative functions in Europe, with a smaller, more focused, and increasingly electric product portfolio.

The automaker said it will now engage in consultation with its social partners across Europe with the intent to achieve the reductions through voluntary separation programmes.

“These are difficult decisions, not taken lightly. We recognise the uncertainty it creates for our team, and I assure them we will be offering them our full support in the months ahead. We will engage in consultations with our social partners so we can move forward together on building a thriving future for our business in Europe,” Sander said.

Ford is the top commercial vehicle brand in Europe, leading the industry for the past eight years.

Ford in Europe said it will continue to invest in the design and development of electric passenger vehicles, meeting consumer demand while at the same time targeting carbon neutrality across its European facilities, logistics and key suppliers by 2035.

“We are committed to our customers in Europe. Ford is focused on delivering an exceptional customer ownership experience, with outstanding digital services and connectivity, ensuring their daily mobility needs are exceeded,” said Sander.

Globally Ford is investing over $50 billion in EVs through 2026.

ALSO READ: India’s seafood exports all set to reach all-time high

Categories
Business Motoring USA

Ford sells majority stake in EV startup Rivian

ford.(photo:pixabay.com)

The report also said that the sell comes just a week after Ford disclosed a $7.3 billion write-down on its Rivian investment last year….reports Asian Lite News

US-based Ford Motor Company has sold a majority of electric vehicle startup Rivian shares, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The shares of the EV maker have been dropping steadily since May 2022, and are now at 1.15 per cent, or 10.5 million shares, reports TechCrunch.

The report also said that the sell comes just a week after Ford disclosed a $7.3 billion write-down on its Rivian investment last year.

Rivian’s stock has fallen almost 70 per cent since February 2022.

Moreover, Ford reported a $5.4 billion “mark-to-market loss” on its Rivian investment in April last year, also the automaker sold 15 million shares in two separate transactions the following month, reducing its stake in the EV maker to less than 10 per cent, according to the report.

Ford’s partnership with Rivian began in 2019 with a $500 million investment in the promising EV startup.

Other companies, like Amazon, also reported a $2.3 billion valuation loss in its Rivian stock.

Earlier this month, Rivian announced to lay off 6 per cent of its workforce.

As reported by Reuters, Rivian’s chief executive RJ Scaringe announced the lay-offs in an email to employees, stating that the firm is focusing resources on increasing vehicle manufacturing and achieving profitability.

ALSO READ: G20 environment group meeting concludes in Bengaluru

Categories
Business

Ford India inks severance package deal with the Union

ford.(photo:pixabay.com)

US automobile major Ford Motor Company last year decided to shut down its two plants -one near here and the other in Gujarat….reports Asian Lite news

Ford India Private Ltd and the Chennai Ford Employees Union (CFEU) on Friday inked the Settlement Agreement or the deal for severance package, said the company.

The company has also announced a `sign-off’ bonus of one month salary in addition to the lump sum severance package.

US automobile major Ford Motor Company last year decided to shut down its two plants -one near here and the other in Gujarat.

The plant near here has 2,592 permanent employees.

According to Balasundaram Radhakrishnan, Transformation Officer, Ford India, the final settlement package (an average equivalent of 140 days of gross wages per completed year of service and additional Rs 1.5 lakh lumpsum per employee) signed on Friday translates to an average of about 5.2 years/62-month of salary for each employee (from a minimum of 4.1 years i.e., 49 months to a maximum of 9 years i.e., 108 months).

The cumulative severance for each employee will range from a minimum amount of Rs 34.5 lakh and a maximum cap of Rs 86.5 lakh, the company had said earlier.

The last date of employment for all employees will be September 30 and Ford India is notifying employees of the next steps and looks forward to completing the exit formalities.

With Diwali to be celebrated next month, Ford India, as a goodwill measure, has also decided to pay an additional amount equivalent to one month of gross wages as a sign-on or sign-off benefit for employees who complete the exit process by October 14.

In September 2021, Ford India announced its decision to wind down vehicle assembly in Gujarat’s Sanand by the fourth quarter of 2021, and vehicle and engine manufacturing in Chennai by the second quarter of 2022.

Ford India had set up four plants in the country — vehicle and engine plants in Chennai and Sanand.

The company sold its Gujarat facility for Rs 725.70 crore to Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd.

The plant in Sanand includes the entire land and buildings, the vehicle manufacturing plant, along with its machinery and equipment, and transfer of all eligible employees of Ford India’s vehicle manufacturing operations.

Ford India will continue to operate its powertrain manufacturing facility by leasing back the land and buildings of the powertrain manufacturing plant from Tata Passenger Electric.

Tata Passenger Electric has agreed to offer employment to the eligible employees of Ford India’s powertrain unit when the latter stops such operations.

ALSO READ: Modi launches 5G in India

Categories
Business

Ford confirms to layoff 3000 staff

About 2,000 of the targeted cuts will be salaried jobs at Dearborn, Michigan. The remaining 1,000 employees are working in contract positions with outside agencies…reports Asian Lite News

The US-based car maker Ford Motor has reportedly confirmed that it is laying off roughly 3,000 employees and contract workers, with the cuts primarily affecting staff in the US, Canada and India.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Ford sent an internal email to employees, saying it would begin notifying affected salaried and agency workers this week of the cuts.

About 2,000 of the targeted cuts will be salaried jobs at Dearborn, Michigan. The remaining 1,000 employees are working in contract positions with outside agencies, the company said.

The email, signed by Executive Chairman Bill Ford and Chief Executive Jim Farley, said Ford is changing the way it operates and redeploying resources as it embraces new technologies that were not previously core to its operations, such as developing advanced software for its vehicles.

The job cuts are effective September 1, a spokesman said.

Farley has said recently that Ford has too many employees, and that the existing workforce doesn’t have the expertise needed to transition to a portfolio of electric, software-laden vehicles.

He has said he aims to cut $3 billion in annual costs by 2026 to reach a 10 per cent pretax profit margin by then, up from 7.3 per cent last year.

Several media outlets reported in July that layoffs were coming for white-collar staff as part of a broader restructuring to sharpen the car company’s focus on electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.

ALSO READ: ‘India on the verge of capex recovery’

Categories
Business Tech Lite USA

Ford snubs Tesla Model 3 as top EV

As per report, the Tesla Model 3 is still a great vehicle and is recommended, but the Mustang Mach-E is more practical and easier to live with…reports Asian Lite News

The Ford Mustang Mach-E secured the “Top Pick” spot on Consumer Reports’ EV list, replacing the Tesla Model 3.

According to Consumer Reports, a non-profit consumer research and advocacy organisation, which selects the year’s top models from hundreds of current models, Tesla has dominated the electric vehicle category, with the Model 3 holding the EV Top Pick title for the past two years.

But now the Ford Mustang Mach-E has earned honour-based on road-test score, predicted reliability, owner satisfaction, and safety.

“Not only is it a really fun vehicle to drive, it is sporty, but it is also extremely mature.

“When I say that it rides nice, it is very quiet. I mean it really feels well built,” Jake Fisher, CR’s Senior Director of Automotive Testing said in a statement.

As per report, the Tesla Model 3 is still a great vehicle and is recommended, but the Mustang Mach-E is more practical and easier to live with.

“Both cars have large infotainment center screens, but the Mach-E’s is far easier to operate and doesn’t require multiple steps to activate routine features, such as using the defroster or adjusting the mirrors, as with the Tesla,” Fisher added.

Nearly 6.5 million electric vehicles (EVs) — including fully electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars — were sold worldwide in 2021, up 109 per cent from 2020, with Tesla leading the global EV market with 14 per cent share, a new report showed on Monday.

The total global car market grew just 4 per cent in 2021 as it continued to struggle with Covid-19 restrictions and chip shortages, while EV sales represented 9 per cent of all passenger car sales last year, according to market research firm Canalys.

The Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling electric car in Europe in 2021, but Volkswagen Group was the leading manufacturer of EVs, with several models from Audi, Skoda and VW selling well.

ALSO READ-Biden finally mentions ‘Tesla’