Ford sees economic recovery by early 2010

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co assumes the U.S. economy will begin to recover by early 2010 despite oil prices that will remain "volatile and high," the automaker said on Thursday.

Ford detailed the assumptions as part of a restructuring plan intended to reduce its reliance on sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles by shifting production to better-selling and more fuel-efficient small cars.

Ford also said in a statement that it would keep its Mercury brand in addition to Ford and Lincoln. The No. 2 U.S. automaker said its latest turnaround plan assumed that the three brands would maintain about a 14-percent market share in North America.

(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki, editing by Maureen Bavdek)