Ford meets salaried cuts

For white collar workers that still work at the Ford Motor Company: congratulations, you've officially made the cut. Ford's President of the Americas, Mark Fields, announced at a media event that the Blue Oval has successfully achieved its targeted cuts, at least for now. Fields told reporters that Ford would "continue to look at our structure and evaluate that versus the external environment," which is fancy executive talk for "if we don't start making some money, we'll cut some more." Fields didn't reveal the exact number of cuts that were made to achieve that goal.

Ford announced in June that it would cut 15% of its salary-related costs in an effort to become more lean and conserve cash during the brutal automotive downturn. Ford is trying to conserve enough Bennies to pay for its ambitious powertrain plans that will be needed to help the Dearborn, MI automaker offer the fuel efficient vehicles customers want. Fields said that spending on engines and transmissions over the next couple years will be "unprecedented," and that Ecoboost, diesels, hybrids, and other fuel-saving technologies will get the lion's share of the spending. Ford also plans to convert three truck and SUV factories to small car production and add six European models to its product mix.

[Source: Reuters]