Dearborn (Michigan), June 17: Ford Motor Company Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr. Reassured shareholders that the troubled automaker's turnaround plan was on track. "The plan I outlined in January 2002 is on track and it's working," the 47-year-old family scion told the automaker's annual shareholder meeting, outlining the progress made in the last 18 months. "The first year of our plan we met or exceeded virtually all of our milestones. We cut billions of dollars in non-product costs, raised our quality and successfully launched a wave of outstanding new products."

The automaker cut two billion dollars in costs last year, and is 500 million dollars ahead of its 2003 target, "and we are aggressively going after more," ford said.
"We expect our cost reductions will offset all cost increases, including rising pension and health care costs as well as the deterioration in net pricing associated with higher incentives," said ford Chief Financial Officer Allan Gilmour.

Ford's "legacy costs," are among the aspects of Ford's operation that worry wall street analysts most. Bureau Report