Ford Makes Buyout Offer For Early Retirement To 1,300 Employees In Illinois, Kentucky

Detroit, MI (AHN)- Some 1,300 hourly workers in Ford Motor Co.'s Illinois and Kentucky plants will receive buyout offers as part of the car maker's continuing "turnaround" plan, according to reports.

Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said in an AP report that the latest batch of buyout or early retirement offers will affect 800 workers at the Chicago plant and 500 at the Louisville factory, respectively.

Workers at the Cleveland engine plant may also be offered buyout packages in line with Ford's cost-cutting measures, she added, but declined to specify the dates and terms of the buyout agreements.

The offers are "very targeted buyouts to affected employees," Kozleski told AP, adding"It's part of our ongoing plan to adjust capacity with demand."

On April 24, Ford CEO Alan Mulally announced that the company may dish out further employee buyouts at individual factories.

Ford said that only 4,200 U.S. factory workers took the buyout offers from January to March this year, the number represents less than 10 percent of those eligible to avail of the program, according to Bloomberg.

The company assembles its Taurus and Mercury Sable sedans in Chicago, while the SUV's Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer are built in Louisville.