DETROIT (AP) ‘ Ford Motor Co. is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs as car buyers eyeing record gas prices turn toward more fuel-efficient models. The automaker says it no longer expects to return to profitability by 2009 and didn’t rule out layoffs and plant closures. Dearborn-based Ford also on Thursday cut back its projections for total U.S. light vehicle sales in 2008 to between 14.7 million and 15.1 million vehicles. That’s down from 17 million vehicles as recently as 2005. Light vehicle sales exclude heavy trucks. “We all would like the basic business environment to not have deteriorated, but clearly the most important thing we can do for the long-term success of the Ford Motor Company is deal with this reality,” Ford President and Chief Executive Alan Mulally said in a conference call Thursday. Mulally said the company expects a longer and slower recovery from the economic downturn than it did several weeks ago and doesn’t plan to set any further profitability targets at least July. Ford said last month that 4,200 hourly workers, just over half the number the company wanted, had accepted the company’s latest buyout and early retirement offers. On Thursday, Ford said it will continue offering buyouts to manufacturing workers on a plant-by-plant basis. Ford plans to give more details about possible salaried layoffs and plant closures in July, he said. Ford shares dropped 70 cents, or 9 percent, to $7.10 in midday trading. Ford said it will cut production by 15 percent in the second quarter, 15 to 20 percent in the third quarter and 2 to 8 percent in the fourth quarter. The cuts will primarily affect pickups and sport utility vehicles, which have seen sales plummet in recent months due to rising gas prices and the slowdown in new home construction. Ford plans to increase its production of cars and crossovers through additional shifts and overtime. Ford’s smallest offering, the Focus sedan, saw sales jump 29 percent in the first four months of this year, while its Ford Edge crossover was up 38 percent. As recently as 2004, trucks and SUVs accounted for 70 percent of Ford’s sales volume, according to George Pipas, Ford’s top U.S. sales analyst. That has reversed completely: Retail sales of trucks and SUVs accounted for just over 30 percent of sales in April, he said. But Ford is still heavily reliant on the kinds of large vehicles that have been struggling in the current market. Ford’s F-series trucks, long the best-selling vehicles in the U.S., were down 16 percent in the same period. Still, Mulally said the company is not considering dropping any large SUVs from its lineup. Instead, it is working on improving the fuel economy of its current trucks and offering more options.
