RPO83

Dearborn, Michigan, June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. assigned 1,000 engineers to an effort to cut costs by eliminating vehicle features, finding cheaper materials and reworking parts, Automotive News reported.

The world's second-largest automaker, which had a loss of $5.45 billion last year, wants to cut $700 in costs from each car and truck built in North America by mid-decade, the trade publication said.

``There is no singular attack plan you can use,'' Dave Marinaro, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker's director of value engineering, said. ``We look at new technology. We look at whether a part can be designed using one piece versus two, or two rather than four. We look at using a part and applying it to a second or third vehicle.''

The plan is risky because Ford might make recent quality problems worse, driving up warranty costs and hurting relations with suppliers, John Henke, president of Planning Perspectives in Birmingham, Michigan, told the publication. Marinaro said the effort wouldn't put quality at risk.

(Automotive News)

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