Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. is shutting its Oakville, Ont., minivan plant for an extra week beyond the usual summer vacation period as the fierce competition in the minivan sector bruises its Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey vehicles.

The Oakville Assembly Plant will close for four weeks in July and August instead of the usual three weeks -- following a one-week shutdown next week that comes on top of a one-week hiatus in May and several weeks of layoffs earlier.

Industry sources said Ford has scheduled double the usual summer vacation, but Ford Canada spokeswoman Lauren More said it's just one extra week.

The Freestar and Monterey have had a rough ride since they started arriving on dealers' lots in North America last fall to replace the Windstar minivan.

Ford Motor Co. spent $600-million to upgrade the Oakville plant so it could produce minivans with third-row, fold-into-the-floor seating that enabled the auto maker to catch up to Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Toyota Motor Corp.

"It's uncompetitive everywhere," one industry source said, pointing to the engine and exterior styling of the Freestar and Monterey, almost unchanged from the Windstar.

The changes Ford made to the interior are outdated, the source added, because the new seating configuration for the people haulers has been overtaken by the Chrysler group, with Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country models offering second-row, fold-into-the-floor seats that provide a completely flat cargo surface.

Ford sold 11,873 Freestar and Monterey minivans in the U.S. market last month, 2 per cent more than the 11,676 Windstar minivans it sold a year earlier. Auto makers expect a bigger sales bounce than that from a redesigned model.

In the first five months of 2004, Americans bought 50,838 Freestar and Monterey minivans, a 12-per-cent tumble from the 57,665 Windstars sold in the U.S. market -- the destination for about 80 per cent of the vehicles made in Oakville -- in the first five months of 2003.

Ford Canada will also shut its full-sized car plant in St. Thomas, Ont., for a week beginning Monday. About 2,700 will be laid off in St. Thomas. The Oakville closing affects 3,400 workers.

Friday, June 4, 2004, Page B2

CORRECTION

The Oakville Assembly Plant at Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. will be shut for four weeks in July. Incorrect information was published yesterday.