Ford Motor Co. ceased production Tuesday at its casting plant in Windsor, Ontario, as part of the automaker's plan to exit the business of casting engine parts, AP reported. The 500,000-square-foot (46,450 sq. meter) plant employed about 450 people, making cylinder block castings for the company's 4.2-liter V-6 engines and crankshafts for the 4.2-liter, 5.4-liter V-8, 3.0-liter V-6, 4.6 liter V-8 and the 2.3-liter engines. The closure comes two days after thousands gathered for a rally in Windsor, located across the Detroit River from Detroit, to protest the loss of manufacturing jobs. Ford, which earlier this month announced closure of a casting plant near Cleveland, said it is moving toward having outside parts companies produce castings so it can focus more on items that customers are more likely to notice, such as engines and transmissions. Workers at the 73-year-old Windsor plant were offered buyout or early retirement packages worth up to $100,000 (¤74,025). The company also said it worked with the Ontario government to open an employment counseling center to help with job searches and training. Ford has identified 10 plants that it will close as part of a restructuring plan designed to shrink its production capacity to match reduced demand for its cars and trucks and return to profitability. The company has said it will close 16 facilities by 2012. Ford lost $12.7 billion (¤9.4 billion) last year and $282 million (¤209 million) in the first quarter. The Windsor plant produced more than 50 million cylinder block castings and crankshafts for Ford engines, the company said. Ford announced last year that the plant would be closed.
