Ford Motor Co is upbeat about its prospects as General Motors (GM) sells its European unit Opel, with its chairman saying he expects to retain a competitive edge in the changing market.
“Our ability to compete worldwide remains intact and we feel very good about it,” chairman William Clay Ford Jr told reporters on Thursday.
Fellow Detroit auto giant GM announced earlier its decision to unload Opel to auto parts maker Magna, backed by state-owned Russian bank Sberbank.
Magna’s stake in the European operation will not stop Ford from doing business with the Canadian company in its role as a critical supplier, Ford said.
“I’ve talked to [Magna] personally about it and for now we feel very comfortable about it. They’re an excellent supplier for us and we have a very good relationship and an excellent partnership,” he said, adding he expected Magna to be “a very good operator” for Opel.
CAUTION
“We love our competitive position globally,” said Ford, although he stressed caution for the outlook of the US economy, still recovering from a devastating recession that crippled the auto industry.
“I don’t think we’ll have a good read [of the future] until our dealers are re-stocked,” the chairman said. “Obviously there are still issues in the financial system but the absolute gridlock ... has receded dramatically.”
The automaker posted a 17 percent jump in US sales last month fueled by the popular US government-funded “Cash for Clunkers” program, following on from an increase of 2.3 percent in July — Ford’s first year-on-year gain since November 2007.
The company said it had boosted retail market share in 10 of the last 11 months despite last year’s collapse in sales to levels not seen in decades.
Meanwhile, GM’s decision to sell Opel raised questions yesterday on the thorny issue of layoffs. Canadian auto parts maker Magna and its partner, state-owned Russian bank Sberbank, have said they would likely cut 10,000 jobs as part of the purchase.
There were strong indications that Germany would be spared the worst job cuts, at other countries’ expense.
WINDING DOWN
GM vice-president John Smith said Magna and Sberbank were considering “winding down” Opel’s plant in Antwerp, Belgium, and shifting some production from Zaragoza in Spain to Eisenach, Germany.
Kris Peeters, the head of the government of Belgium’s Flanders region, said he hoped for European intervention if the Antwerp plant was closed, adding that about 12,000 people would be affected in all.
“If Germany says it has put 4.5 billion euros [US$6.5 billion] against the promise that no German unit will be closed down but the Antwerp factory will be shut, I hope the European Commission will clearly say that this is not possible,” he said.
“We have also put millions of euros on the table,” he said, adding: “It has not been totally finalized but the situation in Antwerp is very serious. There is only a tiny bit of hope,” Peeters said.
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