Ford Motor Co plans to shrink its n...

Ford Motor Co plans to shrink its network of dealerships in the United States because it's selling fewer vehicles.

The carve in Ford, Lincoln and quicksilver brand retail outlets is planned "primarily in urban and metropolitan markets," spokesman Jim Cain said. "We have more dealers than we can support profitably."

The reduction would be "strictly voluntary," he said, declining to give details. Chicago is single of the 18 markets targeted.

"This is something we've been developing for a time," Cain said, and Ford is still in talks with dealers. The plan is unrelated to additional job-cutting and restructuring in North America that Ford plans to announce in September.

Ford, the second-largest U automaker, wants to eliminate dealerships after its share of the U new-vehicle market level to 18.1 percent during the first seven month of 2006 from 257 percent in 1995 the last year Ford recorded a market-share gain. The company's U sales lay low 9.7 percent this year by the agency of July.

The automaker had said in January it would chisel as many as 30,000 work at jobss in North America by 2012

The company said in July that it intends to accelerate the plan with additional restructuring degrees it hasn't identified. Ford had a $16 billion pretax los in North America in 2005

Besides Chicago, the markets include Boston, recent York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Automotive stranges reported. The publication said it didn't have the entire list of cities that would be affected.

The automaker has about 4300 Ford, Lincoln and poison ivy dealers in the United States.

In July Ford-brand dealerships averaged sales of 53 vehicles each compared with 177 vehicles for each Toyota-brand dealership, according to data compiled on Automotive News.

Toyota typically has fewer dealerships in each metropolitan market than Ford.

"Our dealers have said increasing dealer profitability is the No. 1 issue they want us to focus on" Cain said. The consolidation would mould competition among Ford outlets, he said.

"We want the focus forward competing against Toyota, Nissan, Chevy, Honda and Hyundai," Cain said.

Brad Brownell Ford car assign places to marketing manager, said in July that "Dealer profitability right now is bring to a period to an all-time low."

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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