In exchange for the wage cuts and other concessions, the automaker promised not to close any U.S. plants beyond some it has already identified. It also promised future products to six U.S. assembly plants and agreed to make hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of improvements to plants.

Some analysts question whether the four-year deal is enough to help Ford, which lost more than $12 billion last year and has mortgaged its assets -- including its blue oval logo -- to fund a turnaround. If Ford's U.S. market share keeps falling, the company might have to go back to the UAW and ask for more, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.

"They're in a very rocky position right now," he said. "They need to cut down their immediate cash flow problem."

A majority of Ford workers must approve the contract before it can take effect. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said voting should be completed by the evening of Nov. 12. The union represents about 54,000 U.S. hourly workers at Ford. Similar contracts have already been approved at General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

Local union presidents and bargaining chairmen voted unanimously Monday to recommend passage of the agreement at a daylong meeting near Ford's Dearborn headquarters.

"It's a beautiful contract. They saved a lot of plants," said Judge Kennard of UAW Local 900 in Wayne.

After explaining the deal to the local union officials, Gettelfinger called the contract a "great agreement" and said he's confident about Ford's future.

"We have no doubts or reservations about Ford's survival. Ford will survive," he said.

Gettelfinger said he also doesn't expect Ford to lay off workers immediately, as GM and Chrysler did shortly after their contracts were ratified. He said Ford already has made substantial cuts to its work force. The company is expected to announce this week that more than 30,000 hourly workers have taken previous buyout offers.

"At this point time we do not anticipate that there will be any additional cuts," he said.

But the contract does contain provisions for future buyouts. A person briefed on the talks said Ford wants to cut between 10,000 and 13,000 hourly workers through early retirement and buyout offers. The person requested anonymity because the buyout details haven't yet been released.

Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, would not comment on specifics of the deal, but told reporters Monday during a new-vehicle preview that it is a fair contract.

A summary of the contract posted on the union's Web site shows that the Ford contract is similar to deals ratified by workers at GM and Chrysler.

Ford will contribute $13.2 billion to a union-run trust toward the company's $22 billion in retiree health care liabilities. The company also will pay $2.2 billion for retiree health care until the trust takes effect in January 2010.

A typical UAW worker at Ford will get $12,904 worth of economic gains over the life of the contract, including a $3,000 signing bonus and lump-sum payments of 3 percent in the second year, 4 percent in the third year and 3 percent in the fourth year, according to the summary.

Ford will be able to pay lower wages to thousands of new hires in entry-level positions. Upon ratification, new hires will be paid a starting rate of $14.20 per hour, down from the current $28.88 per hour starting pay for the average Ford hourly worker. Ford will be able to pay the lower rate to up to 20 percent of its UAW work force. Those entry-level workers will be allowed to transfer to higher-paying jobs by seniority, although they will have a 401k instead of a traditional pension plan.

Erich Merkle, vice president of auto industry forecasting for the consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, said Ford's reduced retiree health care costs and its lower wage scale should help the company even when balanced against the cost of keeping plants open and making additional investments in them.

But he said Ford, as well as GM and Chrysler, will eventually have to close more factories because their sales have declined in recent years.

"Unfortunately I think that it's delaying the inevitable," he said. "When you start taking a look at the sales, there's just not enough butter to spread on the bread."

Ford's share of the U.S. market has fallen from 19 percent to 15 percent since 2003, when the UAW last negotiated a contract with the automaker.

Tom Krisher reported from Detroit.