In November 2007, Ford workers represented by the UAW ratified a new contract with Ford that includes significant, innovative features. The new contract will help Ford deliver on its key priorities, as it significantly improves Ford's competitiveness and allows the Company to continue to pursue its restructuring efforts.
The contract's operational improvements will allow the Company to increase manufacturing flexibility and accelerate new product development. Under the agreement, Ford committed to invest in new, flexible body shops for five of its U.S. assembly plants. That means all of the Company's nine active U.S. assembly plants under the new contract will have the ability to produce as many as four different vehicles from a basic architecture, saving millions of dollars, speeding time to market and boosting world-class quality levels even higher.