Ford Motor Credit to cut 2,000 jobs

09/29/06 - newratings.com

NEW YORK, September 29 (newratings.com) – Ford Motor Credit (FCZ), the financial division of automobile giant Ford Motor Co (F), Thursday announced plans to cut nearly 2,000 jobs at its North American operations, besides closing 57 US branches, as part of its plans to cut costs.

The job cuts are in addition to 14,000 cuts already announced by the parent company. Ford Motor Credit said that it intends to complete the planned job cuts by end-2007 through a combination of attrition, early retirements, voluntary separations and even involuntary separations. Chris Solie, a Ford Motor Credit spokeswoman, said that the company will retain only six service centres in the US after 2007. The company said that it is considering similar consolidation for its Canadian operations.