Ford to Cut Up to 12% of Salaried Jobs

Ford Motor plans to cut its U.S. salaried work force by up to 12 percent after its turnaround plan stalled because of the downturn in the U.S. economy, the Detroit News reported Wednesday.

Ford warned last week it would not achieve its long-standing

goal of returning to profitability in 2009 because of the U.S. economic downturn and a permanent shift in demand toward cars and crossovers and away from large trucks and SUVs.

The automaker also told employees in a memo last week that it expected to make cuts in hourly and salaried employees by Aug. 1 and would detail those steps in July.

The cuts would be involuntary and were still being worked out by Ford, the newspaper reported.

A Ford representative could not be reached immediately for comment.