Ford is taking 17 days out of the production schedule between now and the end of the year at its Southampton, southern England, Transit van plant.
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A spokesman told just-auto the plant built about 74,000 vehicles last year and would complete about 65,000 in 2008.
“It’s do do with the forecasts [Southampton] is working on at the moment. They’re now 12 months old because they were put together towards the end of ’07 for ’08,” the spokesman said noting the market had slumped over this year and “more dramatically” in recent weeks.
“It’s re-cutting the cloth according to demand,” he added.
He said there was no point in building vehicles to stockpile “because they cost money the minute they come off the line”.
On 15 September, as reported by just-auto, Ford said it would halve output of Transit vans at Southampton.
The automaker said it would continue making the Transit panel van at the plant until 2011. After that it would use the site only to make chassis cab versions.
The plant currently produces 65-70,000 vans a year but this would be steadily reduced to 35,000 a year.
The move followed the termination of 124 short-term contracts at the plant last August.
Ford’s move is the latest in a series of recent cut-backs across the UK auto industry which have seen Bentley reduce Continental production in Crewe, Toyota axe a night shift in Burnaston, Land Rover cut output at Solihull and Jaguar cut a week from its Halewood schedule and some production days at Castle Bromwich.
Up to 16,000 workers are estimated to have been affected.
