What an up-and-down week it has been for the Canadian auto industry. After the province of Ontario guaranteed $75 million for Ford to keep jobs at its Windsor plant, the struggling Michigan automaker has announced 500 cuts at its Oakville, Ontario, plant, which produces the automaker’s crossovers, the Flex, Edge, Lincoln MKX and upcoming MKT.
Ford will eliminate the third body and paint shift at the Oakville plant. According to a Ford of Canada spokesperson, the automaker will promote retirement with a $75,000 allowance and a $35,000 credit towards purchasing a new Ford vehicle in order to reduce the number of employees. Ford of Canada says that the job cuts are due to production cuts caused by faltering demand for crossovers in the United States.
Ford had been planning to add a third assembly shift to the plant, but those plans are now off.
09/11, 9:11 AM
posted by:
kitko
Who in their right mind thought that an answer for a TRUCK/SUV crisis is an expensive square huge Xover with 3.7 liter V6….
09/11, 10:00 AM
posted by:
Buhbye
For the morons who know nothing of the industry……
Product planning for vehicles being introduced today began several years ago, before big oil decided to rape the rest of the world. The thinking was sound, and ALL of the automakers were developing relatively excellent replacements for the 14-16 mpg gas hogs. Now, the industry can scale back on production, or erase the new product altogether, which would be very expensive.
Sarcastic four o’clock scholars should not be allowed to breathe, much less have a computer.
09/11, 10:29 AM
posted by:
howsmydriving
I’ve got this GREAT joke:
Q. What do Canadians do when they get laid off?
A: They drink!
09/11, 10:36 AM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Buhbye: yeah, you know it all. The issue here is not just with the industry’s ability to respond, but what they respond with. Ford has the Edge, the Taurus X and the Flex and, sheetmetal aside, theyre all the same vehicle aimed at basically the same piece of the pie. They all even have the same powertrain, so why do you need 3 pegs to fill one hole? There are plenty of other gaps in Ford’s lineup that should have been addressed before the Flex was given the green light.
09/11, 10:59 AM
posted by:
jdasch1
Still cannot even get a test drive on a new Flex. They are selling very fast. I think Ford is trying to keep the volume right so what happened to the Chysler 300 volume and rebates doesn’t happen to it. Why pay overtime and a third shift if your just going to give it back in a form of a rebate ?? I think its smart to keep the volume slow before the Eco-boost engines arrive in 2010. I want a Flex Limited with refridge with the Ecoboost 4 banger. But the dealers in my area cannot keep a Flex on the lot long enough to drive one.
09/11, 11:24 AM
posted by:
shaver
jdasch: I know when you can get an old fridge, a lawn chair and four caster wheels. It wont have an Eco-boost, but it will have a panaramic sky light.
09/11, 12:16 PM
posted by:
Need more oil for GM
jdasch1, Ford dealers are pawning these to rental car companies. Trust me, they are NOT selling because people would rather drive a Buick Enclave or Saturn Outlook. Nobody wants an ugly, slow brick shaped Ford over a well equipped, quality GM Lambda ute.
09/11, 12:42 PM
posted by:
Lionwithoutpride
Need more oil for GM . . . If I could afford a Flex, I’d buy one. And, yeah, I would prefer the Flex over those Lambdas that are far less utilitarian because of their shapes. So, there’s at least one idiot out here that wants one . . .
09/11, 1:26 PM
posted by:
MercMark
I like the Flex and i think it would make a great replacement for my Mountaineer.
Now I just need the money…
09/11, 2:18 PM
posted by:
kitko
Buhbye, speaking of planning, is there ANY in the Big Three war rooms? Has been for the past ten, twenty years?
The fact is that the Flex has been hailed as something not so different from a savior in the run-up to the production start, Canadian political and unions celebrities gathered, commented and generally enjoyed themselves and the bright future that was desperately trying to drive right in on a brand new Flex…. with Ford shamelessly encouraging them. Flex was hailed as a dream car for those who want to ditch their full-size SUV and trucks, it was meant to be the next best thing. That’s its biggest problem. It wasn’t meant to be the best.
09/11, 2:41 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
I love how Need more oil for GM touts buying American, and then craps on Ford and Chrysler. Monopoly is bad. Competition is good. Competition is what makes companies work and what makes customers happy. Without competition, GM would be building akin to a Volga, and gas would be $10 per gallon in the US.
09/11, 3:30 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
NEED MORE OIL FOR GM who are the “people would rather drive a Buick Enclave or Saturn Outlook” who? O.K. you LOVE ALL GM’s, we get it, that’s cool, but you always have something negative to say, if you can’t give a constructive opinion just don’t give one, this is a FORUM, not a My Space Blog. page.
09/11, 4:18 PM
posted by:
frost
I kinda feel for some of the people at the Oakville plant as I know a few people that work there or have family or friends that work in there.. I will say this I have driven a few of the Flex’s at my work and I have to say they drive great. they come very well equipped on all the trim levels.. though I’m not a fan of the brown coloured ones… and they feel really sporty for a giant over sized mini, atleast thats what they look like to me.
09/11, 7:18 PM
posted by:
VWgrouP
I AGREE WITH YARDDOG82ABN
need more oil for CRAP CARS..you got to calm down on these things! You act like a such a child.
And where I live, I see a Flex atleast..ATLEAST once a day, without any rental car stickers on the back.
Also, the Encalve..yes its well equiped blah blah..but it makes me wanna PUKE when I look at one. Id rather buy a Flex then an Enclave.