DETROIT, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Ford Motor ( F ) CEO Jim

Farley has told employees that the automaker needs to speed

efforts to improve quality and lower costs, and that manager

bonuses, which are tied to those metrics, would be slashed to

65% of their total, according to three people familiar with the

matter.

Farley recently introduced a new performance system where

company bonuses are directly tied to progress on key goals in an

effort to change the 121-year-old automaker's culture to hold

employees more accountable. He made the announcement about the

lowered bonuses at a town hall on Wednesday.

"I'm proud of the progress but we're not satisfied at all,"

Farley said in a third-quarter earnings presentation on Monday.

Ford executives said on Monday that the company would meet only

the lower end of its annual guidance. Its shares fell by more

than 10% on Tuesday. The shares were down 1.3% at $10.34 on

Thursday afternoon.

"When we meet or exceed our targets for those factors - and

we achieve the ambitious goals of Ford+ - the team is rewarded,"

a Ford spokesman said on Thursday. "We are focused on lowering

our costs, improving our quality and making Ford a higher

growth, higher margin, more capital efficient and more resilient

business."

Bonuses may change depending on the company's fourth-quarter

performance, he added.

"It's a fundamental change in the way we're running the

company. We now truly differentiate and reward excellence at

Ford," Farley said on an earnings call in February, describing

the new performance system. "It's a massive culture change."

The percentage of the company bonus recipients collect also

varies depending on their personal performance, the Ford

spokesman said.

Crosstown rival General Motors ( GM ) tweaked its compensation

package for employees earlier this year, Reuters first reported,

in a move to compete with companies like Tesla which

offer stock-heavy pay packages.

GM now rewards its top 5% of employees with 150% bonuses,

higher than what was available under the previous system, and

the lowest 5% of performers are subject to what the company

calls "appropriate action," including being fired.