Ford Ends Its Employee Computer Giveaway

Ford Motor Co. canceled its employee personal computer giveaway program as the second-largest auto maker tries to reduce expenses because of slowing sales and financial losses.

Ford had distributed about 166,000 personal computers and printers to employees from February 2000 until the end of May, when the program was deferred until the fourth quarter. At the time, Ford said there had been questions about how the giveaway affected taxes for workers in different nations.

When Ford announced the plan, the auto maker said it needed employees to be Internet-savvy. “Individuals and companies that want to be successful in the 21st century will need to be leaders in using the Internet and related technology,” Ford Chairman William Clay Ford Jr. said last year.

Ford’s U.S. vehicle sales fell 11% in the first nine months of the year, twice the industrywide decline. The company this week reported a third-quarter loss of $692 million, its second loss in a row. Vehicle demand has fallen this year from a record in 2000 because of a slowing U.S. economy.

The computers were distributed mostly to employees in the U.S. and the Philippines, Ford said. Employees were provided Internet access at a reduced charge of $5 a month. Employees who received computers will retain the cheap access, spokesman Peter Olsen said.

Ford provided the computers and access through San Francisco-based PeoplePC Inc.

Shares of Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford fell 26 cents to close at $16.51 on the New York Stock Exchange. PeoplePC shares rose 3 cents to close at 14 cents on Nasdaq.