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Non-Tech : Auric Goldfinger's Short List -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TRIIBoy who wrote (894)	12/19/1998 2:44:00 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Respond to of 19428

Bad news for VTCH: "Ford Is Laying Off 2,800 Workers In Brazil as Industry Volume Drops By ANDREA PUCHALSKY Dow Jones Newswires DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is slashing the workforce at its Sao Bernard assembly plant in Brazil by more than half, terminating 2,800 workers, in response to what the company called "significant decline in industry volume" in the region. Ford spokesman Jim Cain said the job cuts will result in an unspecified fourth-quarter charge, which will also include charges for other employee separation programs announced by the company earlier this year. Operations at the Sao Bernardo assembly plant , which build Ford Fiesta and Ka cars, and small pickup trucks, will be reduced to one shift in 1999. The layoffs are effective January 4, although all the affected employees are currently on paid leave of absences. The plant employs a total of 5,000 workers, according to Ford's Mr. Cain. Brazil's auto industry, which accounts for 12% of the country's industrial gross domestic product, has seen sales and production plummeting to their lowest levels in years and economist are predicting even tougher times ahead. Ford and several other auto maker in the region have been plagued with an oversupply of vehicles leading to repeated temporary plant idlings. In the first nine months, the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate in Brazil fell to 1.6 million vehicle compared with two million vehicles in the same period in 1997. Ford's combined car and truck share for the same period was 13.5% of that total, down one-tenth of a percentage point from 1997. Mr. Cain said the moves were made after an analysis of the current economic volatility in Brazil indicated "the prospect is strong that 1999 is going to show the same kind of weakness." German auto maker Volkswagen AG has made similar production cuts since Brazil's auto industry hit the skids. Employees affected by the downsizing will receive a separation allowance equal to 2 1/2 months wages."