Ford Canada is cutting production at its Windsor, ON, engine and parts plants thanks to poor sales of the company’s Freestar minivan. A reported 650 workers will be laid off as a result.

The job cuts are distributed across the Essex engine plant and a foundry that supplies it. There were no reported job cuts at a nearby assembly plant, in Oakville, ON.

Ford cut jobs at the company's Essex engine plant and a casting plant that feeds parts to Essex because of slow sales for the Freestar, which is made at the company's main assembly operations in Oakville.

The layoffs include 500 production employees and about 150 skilled trade workers, Canadian press reports say.

Most of the cuts will be made the Essex engine plant in Windsor and casting plant nearby. However, workers are being laid off throughout Ford's Windsor operations, which includes two other engine facilities. Essex will cut one of its two shifts producing 3.9- and 4.2-litre V-6 engines, as well as V-8 truck engines