What Started As A Great Hope Ends Badly: Ford to Lay Off 200 Workers at Wixom, Mich. Plant Due to Planned Thunderbird Halt
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WIXOM, Mich. March11, 2005; The AP reported that Ford Motor Co. plans to lay off about 200 employees, or 11 percent of the work force, at its Wixom Assembly Plant when it stops making the Ford Thunderbird this summer, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
Anne Marie Gattari said the affected workers will be offered jobs at other Ford plants. The plant will stop making the Thunderbird just before the company's annual two-week shutdown in July.
The 200 workers could include some salaried workers, although the company still is working out details, Gattari said.
The Wixom plant has about 1,800 hourly and salaried workers. It is located about 35 miles northwest of Detroit, makes the Lincoln LS and Town Car and does some final assembly work on the Ford GT.
Ford announced Thursday that it was discontinuing the current-generation Thunderbird after the 2005 model year. The retro convertible went on sale in the summer of 2001.
