Ford Motor Co.'s plan to close five factories and eliminate four vehicle models by mid-decade will have no effect on the automaker's suburban Kansas City plant, a company spokeswoman said.
The world's second largest auto manufacturer announced Friday that a total of 35,000 jobs would be cut as a result of the line eliminations and plant closings, including a Ford plant in Hazelwood, near St. Louis.
Production will be slowed at some of the plants that will remain open, said Brenda Hines, a Ford spokeswoman, but the plant in Claycomo will not experience any changes.
The plant, in Clay County north of Kansas City, employs about 5,300 hourly and about 320 salaried workers to build the Mazda Tribute, Ford Escape and Ford F-150 trucks.
Those products remain in high demand, said Gary Bennett, general manager of Laird Noller Automotive in Lawrence. The plant is the lone producer of Ford's Escape, which is a smaller version of the popular Explorer.
Ford can keep only an 11-day supply of the vehicles on hand, Bennett said, given the brisk sales.
Ford reported losing $692 million in the third quarter of 2001, and is expected to report its third consecutive losing quarter when its results for the fourth term are released.
The canceled models are the Ford Escort, Mercury Cougar, Mercury Villager and Lincoln Continental.
Closing the Hazelwood plant would cost about 2,600 workers their jobs. The workers earn an average salary of $62,500, excluding benefits.
The plant makes Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport utility vehicles.
Hazelwood mayor T.R. Carr said he was surprised by the announced closing, which he estimated would cost the St. Louis-area economy up to $400 million per year.
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