Ford to close Ohio casting plant

Brook Park, Ohio -- No. 2 U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. said Monday it will close a Cleveland-area casting plant employing 1,200 people in 2009 as part of its restructuring.

The automaker previously announced it would close casting plants in Canada and Britain.

A separate engine factory with nearly 600 workers at the Brook Park, Ohio, site will close for a year starting in two weeks, the Dearborn, Mich., automaker said.

Ford said the engine facility will build more powerful engines for new Ford vehicles next year.

Some 470 workers will be laid off in that closing, Ford said.

The company will offer buyouts to hourly workers at the plants.

"These are difficult actions, and we're approaching them with great sensitivity because they involve our people," Vice President Joseph Hinrichs said in a statement. "However, operating an efficient and competitive manufacturing business is a key to our Way Forward plan to transform our business back to sustained profitability."

Ford outlined its Way Forward restructuring plan last year, saying it would cut more than 30,000 blue-collar jobs and close 16 North American plants to match capacity with sales.

Ford lost $12.6 billion last year -- $6.1 billion in North America.

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