Tens of thousands of redundancies, plant closures and massive cuts in production - the Americans have a new word for this kind of business strategy. It is not down-sizing anymore. In the auto industry, they are calling it right-sizing.

First, it was General Motors axing its North American factories and shedding its workforce.

Now, the impending cuts at Ford look as if they will be just as harsh.

Although chairman and chief executive Bill Ford is still putting the finishing touches to his plans to restore the company's ailing North American operations, details have been leaked to US newspapers.

If the claims are true, then Ford had better buckle up for a bumpy ride.

The draft restructuring plan apparently envisages the closure of ten assembly and component plants, reducing the workforce by anything up to 30,000.

Dubbed The Way Forward, it is clear Ford is taking drastic measures to avoid having to revise its plans in a couple of years.

The original restructuring plan, approved four years ago, was a more modest affair, calling for 20,000 job losses and "several" factory closures.

However, that was drawn up at a time when the auto industry was in a relatively healthy state.

Since then, the market in North America has collapsed.

Nothing highlights these problems more than the rumour talk of the Ford Explorer production base being under threat.

After more than a decade as Ford's best-seller, Explorer sales have run out of gas this year and are expected to be at their lowest since 1990. Rising petrol prices have hit sales of gas guzzlers particularly hard. Last month, they were down 57 per cent on the previous year.

Explorers are built in Louisville, Kentucky, and at Hazelwood. If sales continue to decline, Ford may decide to mothball one of the two factories.

Drastic measures are needed to address the company's over- capacity. Bill Ford wants production to reach 95 per cent of capacity, but the group has too many factories producing too few car. Commentators estimate that Ford is closer to 70 per cent capacity. The powerful unions are braced for bad news. Ford has become an expert at softening bad news by sweetening a bitter pill.

This time, it will announce the restructuring alongside several model launches. Bill Ford hopes this will send out a message that the plan is not just about closures and job losses.

Ford has big announcements lined up for both the Los Angeles and Detroit Motor Shows next month. Many of its workers will be asking Santa Claus to bring them a job for 2006.