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Ford will keep Escape and MKC plant open an extra week to meet demand

Crossovers keep selling like popular pastries, and for Ford, that means it needs to keep production going. The company announced that, rather than the usual two-week shutdown, its Louisville, Ky., assembly plant will be open for one of those weeks. The plant builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC, which Ford reports have had record sales. According to Ford, Escape sales through May are up 3 percent, and MKC sales are up 10 percent compared with last year. In total, the Escape has sold about 130,000 units through May, and the MKC has sold around 11,000. Keeping the Louisville plant open will allow the company to build an additional 8,500 vehicles. Ford stated that all other assembly plants will continue with the two-week shutdown as scheduled. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Ford Escape: First Drive View 24 Photos Image Credit: Drew Phillips Plants/Manufacturing Ford Lincoln Crossover SUV Economy Cars Luxury lincoln mkc

Ford to cease Australian automaking operations after 90 years

Ford began manufacturing cars in Australia in 1925 with the Model T. In 2016, Ford will stop manufacturing cars Down Under, including the Falcon and the Territory SUV. Ford Australia CEO Bob Graziano has reportedly confirmed the closure of the company's Broadmeadows assembly plant and the Geelong engine plant, both in the state of Victoria. There will be 650 jobs lost at Broadmeadows, 510 sacrificed at Geelong. Of the roughly 3,000 workers the Blue Oval has in Australia, it's said it will try to retain about 1,000 of them at its R&D and product development facilities.
The writing hasn't just been on the wall, it's been a regular item in all the papers and on Ford's bottom line for years. As recently as 2003, Ford sold nearly 75,000 Falcons, but over the next four years, annual sales dropped by something like 10,000 units, and over the last two years, it has sold less than 20,000 per year. It isn't only Ford that has suffered - sales of the other large, locally produced sedan, the Holden Commodore, have also gone over the precipice, triggering the same kind of angst about Holden's continued existence. Ford is the smallest of Australia's local automakers, Holden and Toyota the others, and has posted losses of $AUD141 million last year ($136M US) and $AUD600 million ($580M US) in the past five years. Graziano said the cost of manufacturing is simply too expensive in the country, twice as high as Europe and three times as high as Asia, and there no way to make a business case for staying in the country.
In January 2012, Ford Australia announced it would stay in the country until at least 2016, but by July of the same year, most outside observers were quietly declaring that 2016 would be the last year of Ford Down Under, and even the speculation was making other observers nervous. Ford received money from the Victorian government last year to aid its refresh of the Falcon and Territory, which will continue on schedule for the 2014 model year. A front- and all-wheel-drive sedan on a global platform is predicted to replace the Falcon, with some other SUV expected to replace the Territory. The company says it still intends to expand its lineup in the country.

Mulally confirms he's not leaving Ford for Microsoft

In recent months, rumors had been flying about Ford CEO Alan Mulally potentially leaving the company to take a position at Microsoft. Last we heard, Mulally was planning to stick around at Ford through at least 2014, and in an interview today, that bit was confirmed by the CEO himself.
According to the Associated Press, in a report from The Detroit News, Mulally said he will not be leaving Ford for Microsoft, and reiterated that he will remain at the Blue Oval through 2014, if not longer. Mulally has "no plans other than to serve Ford," according to the report.
Mulally did not say whether or not he had been in talks with Microsoft at any point. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said he plans to leave the software company sometime this year.