A proposal by Ford Motor Co. to spend more than $1-billion to create a flexible manufacturing operation in Oakville, Ont., is still on track, company officials said yesterday, while industry sources said the auto maker will find new vehicles to assemble there if the conversion goes ahead.

"Our intention and our commitment to revitalize Oakville hasn't changed," John Jelinek, vice-president of public affairs for Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd., said yesterday.

"The future of Oakville doesn't ride on a particular product or a couple of products. It rides on us putting together a sound business case for flexible manufacturing at Oakville."

Ford's product plans for the Oakville operation included assembling the next generation of its Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans, as well as two new sport utility vehicles code-named U387 and U388, all based on one vehicle platform or basic underbody, which starts with the Mazda6 mid-sized car. But six weeks ago, Ford said in a memo to parts suppliers that U387 would be shifted to a plant in Atlanta.

Sources said minivan production will stay in Oakville, where Ford spent $600-million rebuilding the assembly line at the Oakville Assembly Plant to assemble the Freestar, which replaced the Windstar.

The next-generation minivan -- and the SUVs -- will be based on the Mazda6 platform, which will provide the underbody for about 800,000 vehicles once full production is reached later in the decade, industry sources said.

So far, Ford has publicly identified only two passenger car plants that are scheduled to be converted to flexible manufacturing, only one of which is using the Mazda6 platform. If the plan to assemble 800,000 vehicles annually off that platform remains intact, at least two more plants, possibly three, will have to be converted to flexible manufacturing, one source said.

"There's plenty of business to go around," said one industry source familiar with Ford's product plans, which are in a constant state of flux amid a company restructuring and job cuts around the world. The restructuring includes the closing of the Ontario Truck Plant, which is next door to the minivan assembly plant at the Oakville site.

Ford Canada told the Canadian Auto Workers union a year ago that it was studying the possibility of creating a leading-edge flexible manufacturing assembly operation in Oakville later this decade but that it would depend on government help. Senior Ford executives told reporters in February that governments would be expected to contribute up to $200-million in tax relief and other assistance if the project were to go ahead. There are a variety of scenarios that apply to Oakville and all of them are being studied, Mr. Jelinek said.

He added that job cuts of 3,000 salaried workers announced earlier this week at Ford's head office in Dearborn, Mich., would have no impact on Ford Canada's operations. Ford Canada will cut costs through reductions in other areas and through attrition, he said.

More job cuts were announced at Ford's European operations yesterday as the auto maker decided to cut production and scrap plans to manufacture the next generation of its Focus compact at a plant in Genk, Belgium.