July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, is expanding ``targeted'' buyout offers to union workers at almost all of its U.S. plants as the company cuts production because of falling sales.

The voluntary incentives of as much as $140,000 are now being made available at all except four of its U.S. factories, spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said in an interview. The company, which lists about 30 U.S. plants on its media Web site, had been offering them at only four facilities.

``Flexibility is at a premium right now, whether it's the balance sheet or the headcount,'' said Mark Warnsman, a New York- based analyst at Calyon Securities USA Inc. with a ``neutral'' rating on Ford shares. ``Given the uncertain times, you want to have flexibility.''

The expanded offers reflect heightened efforts to trim expenses after a 14 percent first-half drop in Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford's U.S. sales of cars and light trucks, including a 28 percent slide last month. In a round of buyouts during the first quarter, about 4,200 workers accepted.

The company, which had about 54,000 U.S. factory workers at the start of 2008, told those employees in March that ``we must continue to downsize and simply will not have enough jobs for all of our current hourly workers.'' Ford began the ``targeted'' offers last month.

The automaker is making 10 offers to entice factory workers to leave. Workers at plants in Michigan and Ohio can begin signing up for buyouts on July 28, Gattari said. Workers at three Detroit-area parts plants can accept buyouts starting in mid- August, she said.

Salaried Cuts

Ford also is in the middle of cutting its U.S. salaried costs by 15 percent. The company began dismissing employees last month, with those cuts to be finished by Aug. 1.

Falling sales of Ford models such as the F-Series pickup trucks prompted Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally in May to retreat from a target to return Ford to profit in 2009 after $15.3 billion in losses the past two years.

The abandonment of that goal came less than a month after Ford reported a first-quarter profit of $100 million, after analysts had estimated a loss. The automaker reports second- quarter earnings on July 24.

Plants where buyouts aren't being offered include assembly factories in Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; and St. Paul, Minnesota, and a metal-stamping facility in Buffalo, New York. The Minnesota plant is scheduled to close in 2009.

The Detroit News reported Ford's new buyout plans earlier today. General Motors Corp. is the largest U.S. automaker.

Ford rose 4 cents to $5.48 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 19 percent this year.

To contact the reporter of this story: Bill Koenig in Indianapolis at wkoenig@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 21, 2008 16:16 EDT