Find Reviews by Make:
Ford introduces something totally new and unexpected at NAIAS: Jobs! 7,000 of them. The Freep has it from “a person familiar with the planning.”
Don’t send in your resume yet. The openings will open this year and next. 1,800 are already spoken for: Ford’s Louisville plant, home of the Ford Escape SUV. Another 3,000 jobs will come by year’s end. The remaining jobs will be filled next year.
The plug-in hybrid and hybrid versions of the C-Max, and the battery-powered Focus turn into job machines. They will be built at Ford’s Wayne assembly plant. Ford will add a third shift there. That will add 1,200 jobs right there – in 2012.
10 Comments on “Ford’s NAIAS Sensation: Jobs...”
Read all comments
God Bless’Em!
Many decades ago, Crazy Henry had an epiphany: Pay your workers enough to buy back the product they are producing, and you increase your bottom line. You also multiply the same effect through out the economy. Unfortunately, MBA tards didn’t believe that, or, more than likely, were only interested in sucking up as much for themselves with no regard for anyone else.
Congrats to the people at Ford, and maybe, just maybe, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That’s a myth. Paying your workers to buy your products is a no-sum game. Henry Ford increased pay because he had an insanely high turnover rate on new hires. Working in his factory was a crappy job, dangerous, noisy and under constant pressure to speed up. In 1913, just before he famously started paying $5/day, FoMoCo had a 93% turnover rate on new hires. If your business model is based on productivity, you can’t abide that kind of turnover.
That is really good news!
Resume to be sent where?
The present Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute are assembled outside of Kansas City, MO. Louisville will assemble the next generation. Mazda’s CX-5 may be coming from Japan.
Ford sure has a lot on its plate, Interestingly, the C-Max and redesigned Escape utilize the same platform as the next Focus.
This is the beauty and advantage of platform engineering done exceptionally well.
Massive economies of scale:
– development costs spread over a large number of vehicles;
– high commonality in shared component sets and/or suppliers;
– extreme differentiation of the ‘top hat’ upper body design;
– flexible production facilities producing many variations off the basic platform being able to respond to market changes within that segment and being able to balance production to allow for higher utilization of the physical plant;
– lower development costs and shorter time, allowing the same number of engineers (if the goal is growth) to produce many more (but seemingly unique) variations on the theme, or to be deployed to develop vehicles for other segments, and/or (if the goal is headcount reduction and savings) using fewer engineers to produce the same number of vehicles.
This is the basis of a “virtuous cycle” of continuous improvement and sustainability in every aspect of the business.
There is got to be an Obummer incentive in there some where as people will be getting jobs just in time for 2012 Presidential Elevetions.
Imagine how many more could be created if they moved the vehicles produced in Mexico to the USA.
Ford can’t move Fiesta or Fusion production to the US because they wouldn’t be making money, or in the case of Fiesta, even a loss if they aren’t made in Mexico. Mexico has far lower labor cost.
Ford makes way more money on crossover SUVs. That’s why they stay in the US as long as they make significant profits.