Ford Canada Cancels Shift, Lays Off 350 Workers

Announcements of layoffs in the automotive industry hasn’t been uncommon news over the past year what with Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors closing plants and encouraging people to take early retirement. Nobody likes to lose a job, but in the current economic climate it can be particularly hurtful.

A recent decision by Ford Canada strikes at the heart of the matter in a slightly different manner. The company had been expected to begin a third shift at its Oakville, Ontario plant, but has since backed off from that move indefinitely. Though the plant produces the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKZ crossover vehicles and had recently added another crossover vehicle, the all-new Ford Flex, demand for these types of cars hasn’t kept pace.

The result for 350 workers is that they don’t have jobs, at least for now. Worse, some of these same workers left previous jobs to begin work at Ford and now find themselves unemployed.

Ford had expected that its widening fleet of crossovers would fuel demand for these vehicles but $4 per gallon gasoline and an uncertain economic climate have conspired to push down demand. Only the most fuel efficient cars are selling, particularly the Ford Focus which gets 35 mpg on the highway.

“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 had expected that as many as 100,000 Flex vehicles would be sold annually, but the early sales trends for this unusual looking vehicle which went on sale in June shows that the demand isn’t there.

On Thursday, Ford announced that several small European models would be produced in the US and Canada for the domestic market as the company attempts to keep pace with rapidly shifting consumer demand for small cars.

(Source: Ford Motor Company and news wires)