DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford Motor Company announced Thursday it is making major cuts in its global operations. The cuts announced so far will happen overseas.
Ford is going to be in the headlines over the next week. It's making major changes to its business under a reorganization it announced last year, and it will also be changing how it works with other automakers.
The automotive landscape is changing quickly. Small cars are out, Chinese auto sales are down for the first time in a generation and the entire industry is trying to get autonomous and electric vehicles right and profitable.
It's turning into a difficult slog.
Autotrader analyst Michelle Krebs told Local 4 it's a difficult task for Ford and it begins with shedding a lot of jobs overseas.
"GM got out of Russia a long time ago," Krebs said. "Ford is reevaluating that. GM got out of India. Ford's kind of looking at what they're going to do there. So they're a little bit behind the others in terms of making adjustments."
Whether jobs will be cut in North America remains a question, although the five-year turnaround plan the company is executing makes it appear likely.
Next Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show, people will hear from Ford about the kind of collaborative relationship it will have working with Volkswagen.
"We suspect it will be with commercial vehicles and maybe some autonomous vehicles," Krebs said.
Getting highly profitable is the only answer to the problem of managing a quickly changing present and demanding high-tech future.
"I think reality is setting in that's not happening overnight," Krebs said. "This is going to be a long stretch of a lot of research and development and not making money on those just yet."
Ford officials are quick to point out it is cutting both white- and blue-collar jobs and offering buyouts in some cases, likely thousands of them.