Ford to step up small car production; stalls pickup and SUV production

23 May 2008

Mumbai: Ford Motor Company has restored to cost cutting measures by scaling production of pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles amid soaring oil prices and falling sales, the company announced today. The automaker is also planning to introduce more eco-friendly vehicles to cater to the demands of the US customers with a complete shift in its production lineup.

Rising commodity prices such as steel, combined with increasing oil rates have reduced consumer demand for larger trucks and SUVs, resulting in dip in sales in the segment. This has forced the Ford to continue executing its transformation plan by aggressively restructuring to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix and also accelerating development of new products that customers demand.

The company is also looking ahead at a long-term profitable growth plan by introducing more small cars and crossovers for the North American markets, which the company profitably sells today in Europe and South America.

Ford stated that the 2008 US industry volume, including medium and heavy trucks, is expected to be between 15 million and 15.4 million units of which Ford, Lincoln and Mercury combined is expected to  account for14 per cent of the share, thanks to the introduction of several new products.

The production lineup for the 2008 North American market includes smaller and more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers such as the hot-selling Ford Focus, Fusion, Edge and Escape, Mercury Milan and Mariner, as well as the Lincoln MKZ and Lincoln MKX.

The  recently introduced the 2009 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner small utility vehicles have new 4- and 6-cylinder engines with 11 and 20 per cent more horsepower, respectively, and 5 percent better fuel economy, thanks to new engine technology, aerodynamic improvements and new six-speed transmissions.  In fact, Ford now offers more vehicles with fuel-saving six-speeds than any other automaker.