Ford Motor Co, the second-largest US automaker, aims to win new customers in its home market with the introduction of a line of small cars, the head of its North American operations said.
The company’s US market share has slid every year since 1995, when it accounted for one in four cars and trucks sold. Ford held 15.4 per cent of the US market this year through July.
To staunch the decline, Ford will bring over six models to the US from its profitable European unit, starting in 2010. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally is trying to lessen Ford’s dependence on pickup trucks, sport-utility vehicles and vans that made up 63 per cent of its first-half US sales.
“What we have to do is tell people we’re back in the car business,” Executive Vice-President Mark Fields said at a media dinner last night in Traverse City, Michigan. “It’s imperative for us to make money across all of our vehicle lines.”
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker relied on trucks for the bulk of its profits in the 1990s. Falling sales of such models, stemming from US gasoline prices near $4 a gallon, contributed to $23.9 billion in losses the past 10 quarters.
Ford can make profitable small cars with features including navigation systems and heated seats, common in larger cars, Fields said. The company also aims to cut costs by selling models worldwide. Ford begins production of a new version of the sub-compact Fiesta in Europe and Asia this year and in North America in 2010.
Ford will also benefit from a new contract with the United Auto Workers, Fields said. The union represents Ford production workers in the US. That four-year accord, negotiated last year, allows Ford to shed retiree health-care obligations for production workers to a union managed fund, starting in 2010. The contract also calls for lower wages and benefits for new hires compared with current employees.
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“It’s important and it helped,” Fields said of the labor contract.
Fields is scheduled to address an industry conference in Traverse City today.