By AP
Louisville, KY – Two Kentucky plants were spared when Ford Motor Company announced cutbacks Monday.
Workers at the Louisville Assembly plant and Kentucky truck plant were not among the 25,000 jobs that will be eliminated as part of Ford's restructuring.
Officials say they hope the cuts will allow the company to reverse a $1.6 billion loss last year in its North American operations.
The cuts represent 20% to 25% of Ford's North American work force. Ford has approximately 87,000 hourly workers and 35,000 salaried workers in the region.
Officials in the auto parts industry in Kentucky say little initial change is expected despite the major down-sizing of Ford.
More than 3,000 workers in the Elizabethtown area work in the auto parts
industry. Regional Ford spokesman David Reuter says it could be weeks or months before his company will know how plant idling will affect the Kentucky supply chain.
A major Ford supplier, the Dana Corporation, is not talking about possible changes.