Ford missing targets, but managers confident

SAN ANTONIO — Ford Motor Co. executives conceded in a report to employees that the company is failing to meet key goals in its turnaround plan, two media organizations reported Friday.

Ford said in the report, obtained by the Detroit News and later by Dow Jones, that it missed its U.S. retail sales goal for the compact Focus in January by 10,600 vehicles and now expects to miss its retail market-share goals for February and March.

It also will miss its targets for February and March for reduction in material costs by a 15 percent to 20 percent margin, though it hit the goal of $400 million in savings in January, the news organizations reported, citing the internal report.

On Friday, Ford’s shares closed down 7 cents to $8.53 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Fewer than half the company’s employees surveyed are confident in Ford’s long-term success, according to the internal memo.

But Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, told the Associated Press on Friday that employees were understandably nervous given the $12.7 billion loss reported for 2006 and its effort to cut tens of thousands of jobs.

“The good news is the trend we show … that the morale surveys are heading in the right direction,” said Fields, who was in San Antonio to speak to the chamber of commerce. “You’d expect it to be tepid right now.”

Fields came to San Antonio, the home of Toyota Motor Corp.’s newest U.S. assembly plant, to tell business leaders that domestic automakers remain an important part of the economy. Toyota opened a Tundra truck assembly plant here last year.

Fields said he believes that better product appeal and reducing costs will help improve the margins despite the highly competitive car market.