Business Channel 2006-09-18&21

Ford¹ has unveiled a new and even more aggressive restructuring plan. The company hopes to save five billion dollars by the end of 2008, and that would be four years earlier than originally planned. The carmaker is offering buyouts to all 75,000 of its hourly employees. It will also eliminate 10,000 more salaried positions. That's on top of 4,000 salaried jobs that were cut earlier this year. And Ford will close two more plants in addition to fourteen sites already being shut down. The company is suspending its quarterly dividend² as well. Now this is the successor to the Way Forward turnaround plan Ford detailed³ in January. That set out to remove 30,000 hourly jobs and close 14 plants by 2012. But analysts⁴ say those reductions weren't deep enough. And Richard, they say they weren't happening fast enough either.

Yeah, show me the money. Where are the profits? Is this gonna help?

Eh, well, these reductions are aimed at almost entirely⁵ the huge losses generated by Ford's North American auto⁶ operations. And according to a report Thursday, the carmaker could lose as much as 9 billion dollars this year. But Ford doesn't expect these latest cuts to push it into the black until 2009, so answer the question: not right now,(Yeah, OK) but hopefully later. Yeah. (Alright) The buyouts offered by Ford have been approved by the United Auto Workers Union and are similar to packages General Motors offered its hourly workers this year. The size of the severance⁷ payment is determined⁸ by seniority and workers can get as much as 140,000 dollars to leave Ford. However, those who take the maximum cash payout will give up their lifetime health benefits from the company. That's obviously worth a lot, but so is taking up 140,000 dollars if you can get a new job.

Sounds good. Well, hey. And I know you're just a messenger. So I was just kidding there, Stephanie.

Ha, ha, ha Yeah, thank you.

All right. Talk to you soon.

All right. Take care.

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Vocabulary

1. buyout–noun an act or instance of buying out, esp. of buying all or a controlling percentage of the shares in a company.

2. Suspend--verb. to defer⁹ or postpone

3. Black-adj. showing a profit; not showing any losses: the first black quarter in two years.

Also see “in the black”-- operating at a profit or being out of debt (opposed to in the red): New production methods put the company in the black.

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

7 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。