Ford, Mazda cutting back at Flat Rock facility

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.