Ford gears up for more layoffs

‘‘The challenge we face isn’t a traditional economic downturn,’’ Ford Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr said in an e-mail message to employees this week. ‘‘It’s a new, rapidly evolving, brutally competitive global marketplace.’’

The Ford family scion has been holding off-site meetings with a small group of top executives in the last two months to hash out additional cost-cutting moves, a source familiar with the issue said.

‘‘Any kind of restructuring like this is a very holistic kind of thing where nothing is really sacred,’’ said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research.

‘‘That may mean the closing of a couple of more plants,’’ Cole said, adding that Ford’s aging assembly plant in Wixom, Michigan, could be one likely candidate for closure.

Ford spokesman Oscar Suris said the company will have a plan ready by the end of the year but declined to be more specific. He did not rule out deeper job cuts in Ford’s salaried work force or the closing of manufacturing plants.

‘‘There are lots of things that are being discussed,’’ Suris said. ‘‘It’s a complex business we operate.’’

An industry source said a major announcement, possibly related to health-care costs for hourly workers, could come as early as September. Ford and GM — which is also struggling with high costs — are in talks with the United Auto Workers union to try to slash some health-care benefits for active and retired hourly employees. —Reuters