Ford’s automotive business will become profitable again by 2008, Mark Fields – the man in charge of the Way Forward turnaround plan – has reiterated.
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“Our commitment for a posting a profit for automotive business in 2008 is very, very serious,” he said as he introduced rollouts changes to the company’s vehicles for upcoming model year.
Fields also stressed that he planned to ignore criticism from Wall Street.
“We don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what the outside world thinks,” he said. “I don’t get frustrated.”
Ford announced its Way Forward plan in January. It calls for the closure of seven assembly plants and the axing of 25-30,000 jobs in North America. Ford has also said it would build a new low-cost assembly plant in North America somewhere, but has not yet announced where.
Fields declined to discuss whether the company was preparing to build its new low-cost North American assembly plant in Mexico, as widely rumoured.
In 2005 Ford’s worldwide automotive operations reported a pre-tax loss of US$1bn, compared with pre-tax profit of US$850m the previous year. The overall automotive figure was dragged down by heavy losses in North America.
However, the Ford Group as a whole managed positive net income in 2005 on the back of a profitable finance unit and profitable automotive operations outside of North America.
See also: GOLDING’S TAKE: The Ford family has tried almost everything
