HallSlug.com

Ford Planning to Retool Truck Plants to Build Cars

Ford Motor Co., long dependent on profits from pickups and sport utility vehicles, is assembling a plan to shift entire truck plants to car production in a bid to keep up with changing consumer demand in the United States, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans.

Plant managers and local union leaders from around the country have been summoned to Ford’s Dearborn headquarters Friday.

They’ll discuss the challenges facing the automaker and the broader U.S. automobile industry as the price of gasoline continues to set record highs and consumers flee pickups and big SUVs for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

In what would be one of the most dramatic manufacturing transformations in Detroit’s history, Ford would retool some of its North American plants to produce vehicles being built in Europe, where it is a leader in the small-car segment. Ford also is conducting a thorough review of its entire product pipeline in North America, hoping to accelerate the introduction of new, more fuel-efficient cars and to build more vehicles on fewer platforms.

“This is very doable,” Cole said. “Labor is scared to death right now and willing to do things that wouldn’t have been possible before. You can’t not do it. Alan is ready to bite the bullet. The old Ford is gone.”