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Ford cancels third shift plans at Canadian crossover plant, leaves hundreds jobless

07/23/2008, 12:05 PM

By Drew Johnson

Ford has announced that it will not be adding a third shift to its crossover plant in Oakville, Ontario. The Michigan automaker announced last April that it would be brining a third shift to the Oakville Assembly Plant near Toronto to coincide with the production start of the all-new Flex, but insufficient demand has forced Ford to rethink its plans.

350 workers were scheduled to start Monday at the Oakville plant – which produces the Ford Flex, Edge and Lincoln MKX — but are now being told via phone that their start date has been postponed indefinitely. According to the Courier Journal, several of the new workers quit jobs and uprooted their families to start a new career with Ford of Canada, but now find themselves jobless.

“The delay is certainly regrettable,” Ford spokeswoman Lauren More said. “We recognize it affects the lives of hundreds of people. As difficult as the decision is, it’s the only way to do it, to adjust production with demand.”

Ford originally planned to sell 100,000 units of the Flex annually, but tough market conditions might make that target difficult to achieve. Through the first six months of the year, Ford has seen less than a 3 percent increase in the sale of crossover vehicles.

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07/23, 12:18 PM

posted by:

cookie4me

Above all, another reason not to buy Ford. No doubt other companies pull such crap but I doubt they compensated those people at all. I doubt you would see Toyota or Honda pull stuff like that.

07/23, 12:19 PM

posted by:

tastyorange

It’s funny… I thought the Flex was cool looking in photos… but when I went by the Ford dealer I realized I walked right by one without even noticing it.

07/23, 12:24 PM

posted by:

ihustle

At least Ford only laid off 100’s. GM laid of thousands and so did chryslers. If im not mistake toyota laid off half of there suv plant, so yo0ur wrong cookie. What do you expect the economy is slump[ing fast especially with the suv market and where gas is. Theyd be losing money by producing these suvs and previous paced. Because the market for them is down.

07/23, 12:30 PM

posted by:

moto-racer13

more proof nobody wants to buy a ford. crap car, crap company

07/23, 12:36 PM

posted by:

desertdweller

Cookie- Laying off employees & not hiring new employees because they are not needed makes a company bad? Look around, the economy sucks in the US. A company has to do things to make it more profitable or they’ll keep losing money. Which conveince store do you work at? No, we hardly ever hear about Toyota and Honda laying off employess. Since the majority of their employees work in JAPAN we don’t usually get to hear all of the dirt dished on those companies.

07/23, 12:50 PM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

I’d be firing the gurus who did Ford’s market research.

07/23, 12:52 PM

posted by:

RaineMan

So much for the Flex. History before it hit the market.

07/23, 12:57 PM

posted by:

Pauly

I’m not sure why Ford even decided to build this in the first place given their preponderance of large vehicles already. If they had used those resources for the Focus, they could have made it into class-leading car like the Civic.

07/23, 2:26 PM

posted by:

xyunya

I’d be firing ihustle for not selling anything and spending all his time spewing propaganda on this forum. Because of his lazy ass 100’s of people are loosing their jobs and being fired over the phone!

07/23, 2:30 PM

posted by:

RaineMan

Flex was built to try and compete with Acadia and the other Lambda vehicles. On its own it is probably a nice enough car. However Ford could not have timed its debut worse. Even 6 months ago this car would have done alright… but now it’s just a stone weighing them down.

07/23, 2:52 PM

posted by:

ihustle

xyunya that kind of funny. I dont understand how you comment on things you obviously no nothing about. How does that work? Do you just say statements and hope people just believe you?? I actually sell alot of cars, One of the best in my dealership. I see no sales decline thats why im almost on the move to disrupt you haters. You guys dont even claim a brand you like. Why? At least i have the balls to say im a ford guy

07/23, 2:59 PM

posted by:

beatusmongous

I really like the Flex, and so does my wife. She refuses to buy a car, even with the price of gas. But the Flex gets better in-town mileage than my current minivan does, which is really good for us. How much is the one with the fridge in it?

07/23, 3:00 PM

posted by:

xyunya

ihustle, you just got it wrong. because you are a Ford guy you don’t have any balls whatsoever. Ask 400Horses or Need4speed, they’ll tell you! So who’s fault that 300 slobs lost their jobs and have no income? They even did not have opportunity to build cars! You always blaming others for your misdeeds! Now it is other guys in dealership that cant sell and not in your dealership, because you sell for everybody it is on other dealerships and not in NJ even, but in NY and PA and CT!

07/23, 3:45 PM

posted by:

shaver

They should have atleast gave them $14/hr to sweep or plant trees like Toyota did in TX. That way the workers would still be in place to work for $14/hr when they do need them. Anyone looking to work in the auto industry right now must already have very low expectations

07/23, 3:58 PM

posted by:

ihustle

what the fu*k are you talking about? You take me personally because you have no value arguement. Kind of like a b*tch, thats exactly what you are. Where were you last week when GM shut down there plant and put 1,000’s not 100’s out of a job. Your not even in the f*cking buisness your just some bit*h that bashes everyone over the computer. Your a computer tough guy ive delt with many of your kind. I claim ford as my brand. YOU DONT CLAIM SHI*. You comment on how other people are wrong and bash companys. Every companys has its fault. Id rather be with ford then gm or chrysler. Ford is definately leading the way for the big three and there is no doubting that. How about you have some valid responses, instead of insulting someone. I never blamed anything on anyone so that is another invalid response. I CARRY MY OWN! I handle mine. Your an outsider looking in. How about you support something, hopefully its american because if its not your a f*cking hypocrit. It guys like you that have an American automobile industry in a slump. How about you support american, or move to fuc*ing Japan you bi*ch. Thats your new name for now on B*tch.

07/23, 4:46 PM

posted by:

classic50

I was actually one of the ones who was hired for this shift, and to be honest I had a bad feeling about it the whole time. I decided to turn down the position once it was offered to me, before hearing this news. I can’t even begin to think about how much money was invested in the hiring process alone. Aptitude testing, interview, visual and hearing test, physical testing. Everything was outsourced with exception to the interview. All of that, to not go through with it. It seems to be a trend in the industry as of late. Maybe a little bit of a lack of forward thinking. I’m glad at least they have honoured those who have moved from the plant in Windsor. As for the comment left by ihustle, I’m glad to see you don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

07/23, 4:54 PM

posted by:

elviososa

so the EDGE sale is slow too!

07/23, 5:00 PM

posted by:

elviososa

You know what’s the problems about many Americans?? They don’t like to listen to the truth. It’s getting worse after 911 happened. And people still don’t know who did the 911.

07/23, 5:03 PM

posted by:

xyunya

are you talking to me? I am love American cars made in Ohio by Honda. And I love to get your goat going. Now, you are also responsible for the death at the Ford plant! Now the whole shift got closed. Lazy bastard, go sell.

07/23, 5:24 PM

posted by:

ihustle

XYUNYA
Its funny you love my job yet you DONT HAVE ONE.
Funny how you know all about the automobiles, yet you dont OWN ONE.
You make up storys, but your NO AUTHOR.
You ridicule others, but claim nothing because getting ridiculed you CANT HANDLE.
You down others for posting, yet you KEEP POSTING.
You bash American brands, yet your AMERICAN.
Claim your not a Chick, but all you do is COMPLAIN
This is why your a hypocrit, do me a favor, obviously you wont have an inteligent response. Last words mean alot to you (Chick thing) so you can have it ;)

07/23, 7:41 PM

posted by:

zoomzoomer

I finally saw a Flex at my local dealer.. in fact, I saw nearly 30 of them lined up across the front of the store! The first thing I noticed is that the base model has horribly cheap-looking headlight bezels and taillights, while the uplevel model (SEL?) has the much nicer detailed projector headlights, LED tails and white roof. The other thing I noticed is that the step up from base to SEL was nearly $6,000!! No wonder they aren’t selling.. the base model is plain ugly, and the next level up is too pricey!

 
 
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