CEO Says Ford Will Cut Further

Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive William Clay Ford Jr. told investors Tuesday that he would begin to review proposals to cut an additional $1 billion in costs.

He also told the investors at a Los Angeles meeting that next year’s market for new passenger cars and light trucks “looks like it may not be great.”

Ford, speaking at one of a series of shareholder meetings that began last week, said the list of potential cost reductions has “come together quite nicely” and will be reviewed starting Thursday.

Ford said last week that the new cuts would be deeper than the $9 billion in cost reductions the world’s second-largest automaker announced in January. Those cuts are to occur by 2005.

Without giving specifics, he said the company was “not projecting a terribly strong market” in 2003.

“We have no idea what is going to happen,” he said. “We can’t forecast October.”

The company had a loss of $5.45 billion in 2001, prompting Ford to announce his restructuring plan in January. The proposal calls for eliminating jobs, closing plants and introducing new models to generate $7 billion in annual pretax profits by 2005.

Only last month Ford said that the company planned to build more vehicles because demand in the U.S. was growing.

“We’re going to increase production slightly in the fourth quarter,” Ford had told a car industry conference at the time. “September sales are OK.”

Two weeks ago, the company posted a $326-million loss in the third quarter, although its results before one-time expenses topped Wall Street predictions.

Shares of the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker fell 43 cents to $8.35 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has fallen 47% this year.