Ford to Cut Jobs and Production, Confirms Fairlane Concept-based Vehicle

Earlier this morning Ford Motor Company outlined some additional details of their "Way Forward" plan. According to a news release over at the Ford website, the company will trim their salaried workforce by a third (about 14,000 jobs), accelerate buyout plans for union employees and close a total of nine factories through 2008. Read about these changes in more detail via the official Ford news release.

Ford also confirmed that it will build an all-new, seven-passenger crossover vehicle based on the Ford Fairlane concept. The new vehicle will built at the Ford plant in Oakville, Ontario, and should go on sale in 2008.

Update: Here are some additional Fairlane comments from a speech this morning by Ford President Mark Fields (see full transcript):

"With bold, American design, three rows of seating and about 23 miles to the gallon, we believe this all-new vehicle can redefine the people-mover for the 21st century. We will build this new crossover at our Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario to take advantage of the significant investment we’ve made in flexible manufacturing there."

The new Fairlane-based vehicle will once again give Ford an offering in the car-based "people-hauler" segment. Ford SUV sales have been declining over the past few years, and the company has struggled to field a viable product in the competitive minivan market. This lead to the recent death of the Mercury Monterey and the impending demise of the Ford Freestar in mid-2007.

It looks like Ford is finally taking the needed (albeit painful) steps to turn their business around, and the Fairlane concept will be a welcome addition to their product mix. One can also hope that Lincoln will finally decide to make a modern rear-wheel drive sedan based on the impressive Lincoln MK9 concept from a few years ago!
^{photo: © Ford Motor Company}