Embattled US car maker Ford today reported a pared third-quarter loss of $129m and said it would slash an additional 10% of its North American workforce. The July-September loss was dwarfed by a loss of $380m in the 2007 third quarter.
Per share, the loss was six cents, the number-two US car maker said in a statement. But excluding exceptional items the loss per share was $1.31, far sharper than the 93 cents expected by most analysts.
The car maker, which saw sales slide more than 30% in September and October in the US, said its North American job cuts were aimed at shifting production away from larger vehicles to those that use less fuel.
The company said it would take a series of additional actions to reduce costs and shore up the company's finances to combat 'the continued weakness in the global automotive market and economic environment.'
In addition to the job cuts, to be completed by the end of January 2009, the company said it would reduce capital spending on engineering and product development and on advertising, as well as reduce inventories globally.
Ford reiterated its continued investment in the smaller, more fuel-efficient products, saying that nearly all planned product programmes remain 'on track and on time'.
Ford said it would continue to adjust its production in line with the lower demand.
'We continue to take fast and decisive action implementing our plan and responding to the rapidly changing business environment,' Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally said.
'We have a strategy that is broad and specific enough to handle the dramatic changes in today's environment. We will continue to assess the rapidly changing business environment and modify implementation of our plan accordingly,' he added.
Revenues in the third quarter were $32.1 billion, a 22% decline from $41.1 billion in the same period a year ago.
