- In an anticipated move, Ford (F +3.1%) plans to end vehicle production and close three plants in Brazil under a restructuring of the automaker's South American operations.
- The actions are expected to result in $4.1B in pretax charges. The automaker said it will record about $2.5B in cash charges for employee separation, termination, settlement and other payments, as well as post about $1.6B in non-cash write-offs for tax receivables and accelerated depreciation and amortization.
- Production will end immediately at Ford's Camacari and Taubate plants in Brazil, while another plant in Horizonte will continue to operate until Q4.
- Ford CEO Jim Farley: "With more than a century in South America and Brazil, we know these are very difficult, but necessary, actions to create a healthy and sustainable business... We are moving to a lean, asset-light business model by ceasing production in Brazil and serving customers with some of the best and most exciting vehicles in our global portfolio. We will also accelerate bringing our customers the benefits of connectivity, electrification and autonomous technologies to efficiently address the need for cleaner and safer vehicles well into the future."
- Ford presented earlier today at the Morgan Stanley Auto 2.0 Conference.