Ford
1972Alex MitchellCar industry Read the scan at ETOL (PDF) →Read from the scan by machine and not corrected: headlines and words can be misread, and a caption or advert can run into the text. For anything you quote, read the scan.
Just over a year ago Henry Ford II (right) arrived on a tour of inspection of his British outpost. Within hours of his arrival he told the press he didn't like what he found. 'Labour problems, he said, becoming 'increasingly difficult.
And he went on: 'I wasn't bluffing either when I said Ford's would re-invest elsewhere. We can't recommend any more capital investment in country constantly dogged with labour problems' When he confronted his British directors in the board room 'he blew up like a bull with a sore head, someone reported.
On his return to America he authorized that no fresh investment be made in Britain until 1976. This decision was designed deliberately to run the British operation into the ground.
To carry out this ruthless policy, Ford needs further ammunition. And he will receive this in a few days' time with the publication of the British subsidiary's annual report.
The report will reveal that the Ford company made staggering losses £30m last year. The announcement will hasten Ford's plans to 'rationalize' his whole European operation--to the detriment of the British sector. For Ford workers, huge future is one redundancies, tougher productivity and the closing down of parts of the network in this country in favour of cheaper production facilities in other parts of the world.
A team of five executives from the Ford headquarters at Dearborn, Detroit, are now in Britain drawing up the plans. They have spent the past six weeks touring each plant taking stock of the company structure and labour relations.
One of their particular hobbies is to study shop-floor militancy. Four weeks ago they