DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. is closing seven day-care centers serving 900 preschoolers and infants in three U.S. states as a cost-saving measure, the automaker said Friday.
The facilities, which provide day care for the children of hourly and salaried workers, will be closed by June, Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt told The Detroit Free Press.
Ford jointly runs the centers with the United Auto Workers union.
Hoyt refused to discuss the cost savings, but said the decision was part of the company's new "business realities and the current restructuring initiatives."
Ford posted an annual loss of $12.7 billion Thursday, the biggest annual loss in the company's 103-year history and the second-largest ever among domestic automakers. Only General Motors Corp.'s 1992 $23.5 billion loss, after retiree benefit accounting rules changed, was greater.
"We are at the bottom," Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally told the Free Press after the announcement.
Mulally predicted Ford would be profitable in 2009.
