Ford plans additional production shifts as demand propels

Ford Motor Company, the makers of Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo, said the company boosted its production plans for the rest of the year due to high response from consumers, driven by the "Cash for Clunkers" programme.

Ford is increasing North American production by another 10,000 units to 495,000 units in the third quarter as it builds more fuel-efficient vehicles to meet Cash for Clunkers demand, the company said yesterday.

Ford's planned third quarter production now exceeds year-ago production levels by 18 per cent.

Ford, the UAW and suppliers are working together to ramp up production of the Escape small utility vehicle at Kansas City assembly plant and the Focus compact car at Wayne assembly plant through additional production shifts and increased overtime, the statement said.

''This is a team effort with the UAW and our suppliers to meet the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles,'' said Joe Hinrichs, Ford group vice president, Global Manufacturing and Labor Affairs.

''We asked our union partners to pull out all the stops – overtime, Saturday shifts, working during the shutdown – and they have delivered,'' he added.