Bob CollinsFord has finally accepted what most people figured out a long time ago — the era of big trucks and SUVs is over. Small is in, according to an article in the New York Times this morning.
Here’s the paragraph that’s got eyebrows raised and fingers crossed around here:
Among the changes, Ford is expected to announce that it will convert three of its North American assembly plants from trucks to cars, according to people familiar with the plans.
A truck assembly plant? We’ve got one of those. It’s the one Ford announced two years ago it would shut down. The last word on the plant, however, is that Ford was thinking about delaying the closing for two years.
At the same time, Ford is expanding voluntary incentives of as much as $140,000 to its workers in an effort to get them out of the workforce. One of four plants where the deal isn’t being offered, according to Bloomberg News, is St. Paul.
The St. Paul is plant is scheduled to close in 2009.
