AutoAlliance, the joint venture between Mazda and Ford, is cutting 90 salaried jobs at its assembly plant in Flat Rock, MI, home of the Ford Probe and Mazda MX-6 and 626. About 90 more administrative and technical jobs will be trimmed as part of the cut-back program. Those jobs consist of open positions resulting from retirement and a previous hiring freeze and about 30 Japanese staff members who will return to Mazda in Japan during the next few months. AutoAlliance also is discussing possible layoffs of assembly-line workers with the UAW. Although the plant is only operating at 70% capacity, the Probe and MX-6 are not selling well, and output will be reduced from 68 cars per hour to 60. The plant is being considered as a production site for a two-door Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique, replacing the Probe, but that isn't in the cards until the '98 or '99 model year.
