Ford announced yesterday that it would be laying off up to 30,000 employees and shuttering 14 auto plants. According to this article, they are running at only 79% of capacity whereas Toyota is at full capacity.
I feel sorry for the people who will be losing their jobs. That has got to be a hard thing to go through. But in the interest of the economy as a whole and Ford in particular, this is a good thing because it looks like they are trying to change the direction the company is going and become more efficient. One particular statement of note is that Ford will no longer provide earnings guidance after 2006. Bill Ford said that the company has to stop thinking "short-term" and focus on a longer horizon.
Good luck to them. If Ford ends up becomming more efficient or producing better cars that consumers want, they'll grow and add more jobs. If they crash and burn, then smaller, more efficient comapanies will fill the gap; or even rivals who have better products to begin with. Either way the economy is better off:
Ford becomes more efficient = more quality for less cost to the consumer.
Ford goes bankrupt = one less competitor to worry about for other car manufacturers, and thus more market for them to strengthen their own positions = good news for customer.
Back during our stock market experiment, I had bought Ford and basically lost my shirt on it. I hope that they succeed because it seems to be less painful for everybody.
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