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The Canadian Auto Workers union will insist that Ford Motor Co. maintain its current manufacturing footprint in Canada as part of negotiations about helping the auto maker cut its costs here, CAW president Ken Lewenza says.

"We're not going to go into early bargaining just because GM and Chrysler went into it," Mr. Lewenza said yesterday. "We've got to get something in return and the only thing you get in return at this particular time is a commitment to product and that's exactly what we're going to work on."

The Canadian manufacturing operations of Ford represent about 13 to 14 per cent of its North American manufacturing, he said.

That includes the St. Thomas Assembly Plant near London, Ont., which makes full-sized sedans, but has no new vehicles earmarked for it and is widely believed by industry analysts and sources to be doomed early in the next decade. Other Ford manufacturing operations in Ontario include two engine plants in Windsor and a complex in Oakville that assembles such crossover utility vehicles as the Ford Edge and Flex and Lincoln MKX.

But finding a new product for St. Thomas will likely represent the toughest part of any negotiations, Mr. Lewenza said.

The union's Ford council will meet with Ford manufacturing chief Joe Hinrichs next month before making a final decision on whether to reopen the contract, he said.

The auto maker must be fully competitive to maintain its manufacturing footprint in Canada, Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. president David Mondragon responded yesterday.

"We're not competitive now in Canada with other North American jurisdictions for Ford, so we're not competitive with the U.S. and we're not competitive with our other competitors in Canada, be it the Japanese or domestic competitors," Mr. Mondragon said.

One reason for that is the concessions the CAW gave Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp., which were ordered by the federal and Ontario governments as a condition for providing the two companies with about $14-billion in taxpayer money as they went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. Those concessions reduced hourly labour costs for the two companies to about $50 from about $70 in contracts signed in 2008.

Mr. Mondragon said Ford Canada will kick off a special marketing program this week that includes employee pricing and a $100 payment to Canadians who test drive a Ford then decide to buy a vehicle from a competitor.

"We're so confident in Ford vehicles that we believe once you drive a Ford, you won't want to drive anything else," he said.

The employee pricing program will run from tomorrow until the end of August. The savings amount to as much as $15,000 on one 2009 version of the F-350 pickup truck and $4,300 on one 2010 model of the Fusion sedan.

"We've established great momentum throughout the year and we want to continue that momentum," Mr. Mondragon said, adding that market share figures for June to be released later this week will be "very promising."

Ford has gained 1.2 percentage points of market share as of the end of May. Its share stood at 13.8 per cent, compared with 12.6 per cent in the first five months of 2008.