DETROIT (NewsNation) — Ford will cut up to 8,000 jobs in a bid to reduce costs and the company shifts its focus to electric vehicles, Bloomberg reported this week.
Ford would not comment on the Bloomberg report, calling it speculation.
But CEO Jim Farley warned in February that Ford has too many people and too much complexity, and said it didn’t have the expertise to transition to battery-electric vehicles. “That’s the simple answer. There’s waste,” he said at a Wolfe Research conference.
Ford, based in Dearborn, Michigan, has about 183,000 employees worldwide.
It also has a target of being able to manufacture EVs at a rate of 2 million per year globally by the end of 2026.
Ford says it plans for half of its global production to be electric vehicles by 2030. The ability to make 600,000 EVs per year includes 270,000 Mustang Mach Es for North America, Europe and China, as well as 150,000 F-150 Lightning pickups in North America. Also included are 150,000 electric Transit vans in North America and Europe and 30,000 of a new SUV for Europe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.