CHICAGO– Ford Motor Co.'s previously-disclosed plans to cut one of the two shifts at its Chicago assembly plant will mean eliminating about 600 part-time jobs by early November, according to http://money.cnn.com. Ann Marie Gattari, a Ford spokeswoman, said the move is part of efforts announced earlier this year to bring the automaker's production in line with its sales.

The plant currently employs about 2,200 people full- or part-time and makes the Ford Taurus, Ford Taurus X crossover, the Mercury Sable, and the Lincoln MKS. The cuts represent about 27 percent of the plant's work force.

Ford's August U.S. vehicle sales fell 26.5 percent as demand for its trucks and SUVs dropped more than 32 percent. The automaker has taken other steps to curtail production: Its Dearborn Truck plant, which makes the F-150 pickup truck, is currently idled, and earlier this year, Ford idled its Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, Mich., for nine weeks.