To consider the expenses resulting from its new labor agreements, Ford Motor Company (F.N.) projected on Thursday that it would have lower adjusted profits before interest and taxes for the year.
At this time, the business anticipates that its adjusted EBIT for 2023 will fall somewhere in the range of $10.0 billion to $10.5 billion. As of July, the company anticipated an adjusted EBIT of between $11 billion and $12 billion.
A day later, General Motors (GM.N.) reduced its profit projection for 2023. They said its new labor agreements with the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the Canadian union Unifor will cost it $9.3 billion through 2028; Ford has provided its outlook.
In the aftermath of nearly six weeks of strikes, during which about 45,000 workers staged a walkout and joined picket lines across the United States to demand improved pay and benefits, Ford was the first of Detroit’s Big Three automakers to negotiate a tentative agreement with the United Automobile Workers (UAW).
Shawn Fain, the union chief, live-streamed progress or deadlocks in negotiations to the world on Fridays and announced surprise walkouts. At the same time, he accused the companies of enjoying record profits without sharing them fairly with workers. The United Automobile Workers’ bargaining with the automakers became a social media spectacle.
Ford stated that the corporation was “at the limit” of what it could spend on better salaries and benefits after the strikes had been going on for just one month. The company issued a warning that the strikes, particularly at its most profitable facility, might negatively impact the company’s capacity to invest in the business as well as the well-being of its employees.
After a few days had passed, Executive Chairman Bill Ford demanded that the “acrimonious round of talks” be terminated and encouraged the United Auto Workers to agree to a new deal.
The perseverance of Fain, however, compelled Ford to increase its offer. The agreement that United Auto Workers (UAW) leaders eventually ratified included a salary increase of at least 30% for full-time employees.
A total of $8.1 billion in manufacturing investments was included in the new agreement, as well as the elimination of all lower-wage factories and the removal of cost-saving features such as paying workers at component plants less than those at vehicle assembly facilities.
However, due to the transaction, Ford and its competitors, including General Motors and Chrysler-parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI), were forced to withdraw their projections for 2023.
Ford, which is already dealing with losses in its electric vehicle (EV) business, a decrease in customer demand as a result of increased borrowing rates, and a pricing war initiated by market leader Tesla (TSLA.O.), said that it would reduce its future investment plans for electric vehicles by twenty-two billion dollars.
Ford announced it would lower capital expenditure, capacity, and the projected employment number, although it did not provide an exact number. This announcement came just one week after the company resumed building an electric vehicle battery facility in Michigan, suspended for two months.
G.M. also said it would be repurchasing $10 billion worth of shares, increasing its dividend by 33 percent, and making significant cuts to the expenditure at its problematic Cruise Robototaxi subsidiary.
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