Ford Motor to lay off 600 Chicago workers

CHICAGO, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- At least 600 part-time workers will be laid off as Ford Motor Co. cuts costs at its Chicago assembly plant amid U.S. sales declines, the automaker says.

An unspecified number of hourly and salaried employees also will lose their jobs, the Dearborn, Mich., company said.

It is likely cuts will spill over to Ford's Chicago Heights stamping plant, 30 miles south of the city, The Southtown Star of Tinley Park, Ill., reported. The Chicago Heights plant produces body panels for vehicles made in Chicago.

The Chicago assembly plant is Ford's oldest, building the Ford Taurus and upscale twin Mercury Sable, as well as the Taurus X midsize crossover sport utility vehicle and Lincoln MKS premium full-size luxury sedan.

Layoffs will begin in November, Ford said.

On Wednesday, Ford reported August sales fell 26.5 percent to 155,117 vehicles compared with the same month in 2007.

Sales of the Taurus -- once the fifth best-selling North American nameplate in Ford history -- were down 16.2 percent compared with sales in the first eight months of 2007.

Ford has 2,174 hourly and 137 salaried employees at its Chicago plant and 1,200 hourly and 137 salaried employees at its Chicago Heights plant.