The new Ford Kuga concept car is seen at the Frankfurt International Auto Show IAA in Frankfurt Sept. 11, 2007. The Frankfurt motor show will be open to the public from Sept. 13 to 23. Green technology and lower fuel consumption will be a big theme at the largest and most prestigious auto show in the world this year.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

U.S. auto giant Ford has warned that it may have to adjust its corporate restructuring plan if industry sales continue to slide, The New York Time reported on Tuesday.

Earlier Monday, Ford reached an agreement with leaders of United Automobile Workers union about its restructuring plan.

Under the agreement, Ford would continue to operate six plants that it planned to close under its overhaul plan, known as the Way Forward. Two other factories, however, will close a year later than previously announced.

Meanwhile, the union agreed to set a starting wage rate of 14.20 dollars for all newly hired employees, about half what assemblers are paid now, said the report.

However, analysts and industry executives expect Ford to sell only about 16 illion vehicles in the United States this year, the fewest since 1998.

Mark Fields, Ford's president for the Americas, was also quoted as saying on Monday that industry sales could decline further in 2008. "If you look at all the indicators out there, there is more risk than opportunity," he said.

Fields was the third industry executive in recent days to warn of a drop next year. Both Chrysler's co-president, Thomas W. LaSorda, and Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Nissan and Renault, have said that industry sales could fall below 16 million next year.