Ford Motor to shed a tenth of its workforce

The second-largest carmaker in the US is planning to cut its global workforce by 10 percent, the "Wall Street Journal" reported in its online edition.

It said the move was aimed at boosting profits and shoring up its sinking stock price and added the measure would help improve the mood among Ford Motor's shareholders.

The newspaper said an official announcement on the job cuts was expected as early as this week, with a Ford spokesman describing the report as "speculation." He did confirm, though, that "reducing costs and becoming as lean an efficient as possible" remained part of a plan to drive profits.

Trump watching closely

Ford has 200,000 employees worldwide, around half of them in the US where car sales have cooled after years of boom.

The automaker had earlier reported a 35-percent drop in bottom-line income for its first quarter, although its revenue climbed by 4 percent.

Net profit was not only hit by lower sales, but also by costly recalls and rising prices for steel and other materials.

Any move by Ford to cut jobs at home is expected to draw criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has made a point of supporting carmakers, advising them not to cut investment and boost jobs at home rather than moving them abroad.

hg/jd (dpa, AP)