Ford didn’t say how many workers it is cutting, but people familiar with the actions, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters, said it was in the hundreds.
CEO Jim Farley said earlier this year that Ford needed 25% more engineers to produce its models than rivals and that is costing the company billions in profit.
The company has said it will lose $3 billion in 2023 on its nascent EV business, but Farley pledged that battery powered models would generate an 8 percent return, before interest and taxes, by the end of 2026. He has a plan to build 2 million EVs a year by then, up from about 130,000 last year.
Last week, Ford and its South Korean battery partner SK On received a $9.2 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy for the construction of three battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee. The UAW, which represents Ford’s hourly employees, blasted the loan as a “massive” government handout.
