Dearborn, Mich. ? Ford Motor Co., the nation’s second-largest automaker, said Monday that it would cut from 25,000 to 30,000 jobs and close 14 facilities by 2012 as part of a restructuring designed to reverse a $1.6 billion loss last year in its North American operations.

The cuts represent 20 percent to 25 percent of Ford’s North American work force of 122,000 people.

Plants to be idled through 2008 include the St. Louis, Atlanta and Michigan’s Wixom assembly plants and Batavia Transmission in Ohio. Windsor Casting in Ontario also will be idled, as was previously announced following contract negotiations with the Canadian Auto Workers. Two other assembly plants to be idled will be determined later this year, and production at St. Thomas Assembly in Ontario will be reduced to one shift.

A total of 14 facilities, including seven assembly plants, will cease production by 2012.

“These cuts are a painful last resort, and I’m deeply mindful of their impact,” said Bill Ford, chairman and chief executive. “In the long run we will create far more stable and secure jobs.”

In addition to the facilities named Monday, analysts also have predicted that assembly plants in St. Paul, Minn., and Cuatitlan, Mexico, could be closed.

Under the company’s existing contract with the United Auto Workers, workers at the idled plants will continue to get most of their pay and benefits until a new contract is negotiated next year.

¢A Ford assembly plant near Kansas City in Claycomo, Mo., is not on a list of company plants designated for closure by the automaker, which announced plans Tuesday for ceasing production at 14 manufacturing sites by 2012.

Ford identified all but two of the sites targeted for closure; the other two will be determined later this year, the company said.

The Claycomo plant, with more than 5,000 employees, makes F-150 pickup trucks and Ford Escape sport utility vehicles.