Ford (F) Plans Up to 8,000 Job Cuts to Help Fund Investments in EVs

According to people familiar with the plan, Ford is planning to cut as many as 8,000 jobs as it tries to boost profits.

The eliminations will come in the newly created Ford Blue unit, which is responsible for producing internal combustion engine vehicles. The plan hasn't been finalized yet and there could be changes.

Jim Farley has a plan to cut $3 billion of costs by the end of the decade. He wants to turn Ford Blue into a profit and cash engine. The Model e unit was created to scale up EV offerings and the Ford Blue unit was created to focus on traditional gas burner vehicles.

According to people familiar with the situation, the job cuts are expected to come in Ford's salaried ranks. The people said they are likely to start this summer. The majority of the cuts are expected to be in the US.

Ford said that it was focused on reinventing the organization to take advantage of the growth of electric cars. The company said in a statement that they have laid out clear targets to lower their cost structure to make them more competitive.

The renowned Ford vehicle developer Thai-Tang is stepping down.

The electric Mustang Mach-E and other plug-in models have lost profits because of rising commodity and warranty costs.

At a Wolfe Research auto conference in February, Farley stated that we have too many people. The management team believes that the portfolios are not earning enough.

Ford's shares fell 39% this year through Tuesday, worse than the broader market, due to inflation fears and supply-chain snarls.

After selling just 27,140 battery-electric vehicles in the US last year, Farley boosted spending on EV to $50 billion and set a plan to build 2 million battery-electric vehicles annually by the end of the decade. Ford sold more electric vehicles last month as it rolled out the hot new F-150 Lightning pickup.

To finance Ford's electric ambitions, the company's traditional gas- fueled models are needed.

The funding for $50 billion is based on the core automotive operations of the company. We need Ford Blue to be more profitable in order to fund this.