Ford set to end production at Blanquefort in France, jobs at risk

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - Ford will end production at its Blanquefort gearbox plant in southwestern France by late August next year after it turned down a Belgian firm's offer to buy the factory, the U.S. carmaker said on Thursday.The French government had this autumn expressed optimism that the plant and its 850 employees would be saved, but Ford said it had told the plant's works council that it had rejected the bid made by transmission supplier Punch Powerglide."Despite thorough and..