Is The Auto Industry Partying Like It's 2009?

Thankfully, no. However, the industry is facing its most challenging environment since 2009 and the years that followed. The latest news, as reported by CNN and others, has Ford cutting 7,000 white-collar jobs this year (2,400 in North America alone). That is roughly 10% of its salaried staff. The cuts are not isolated either as Ford previously announced cuts in Germany and plant closings in Russia.

Nor are the cuts unique to Ford. As reported by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., automotive industry job cuts are through April 2019 are up 207% over last year. The cuts already surpass cuts for the entire year for every year from 2010-2017, except 2012. And, cuts for the year are destined to exceed those cuts in 2012 and 2018. Not surprisingly, vehicle sales are down. Significantly down. In fact, the expectation is that sales for this year will fall below 17 million vehicles in North American for the first time in five years.