Despite the fact that the allocation of two new electric models has ensured the survival of the Ford plant in Almussafes (Valencia), the North American company has announced today an ERE that will affect 1,144 employees, double what was initially expected. Currently, the facilities employ 5,800 people.
The oval firm is restructuring its business in Europe. From now on, it will stop developing specific models for our market, betting on a more American range and prioritizing profitability over volume. This will mean the disappearance of highly popular models such as the Fiesta (2023) or the Focus (2025).
As a side effect, Ford will eliminate 3,800 jobs (11% of its workforce) in the old continent, mainly in the R&D and product management departments. In addition, the company is already looking for a buyer for its factory in Saarlouis (Germany)where the Focus is currently assembled.
Now, the multinational has taken a step further in its restructuring process by announcing that will resize its workforce in Spain. This adjustment is mainly due to the imminent cessation of production of the S-Max and Galaxy in April, to which must be added the recent discontinuation of the Mondeo and the future transfer of the Courier van to Craiova (Romania).
Ford will bet on a more American range in Europe
This will leave the Kuga as the sole support of the factory until the arrival of the aforementioned electric models, which will wait until 2026. Both will use the GE2 modular platform, an architecture that will be used, for example, in Mustang Mach-E second generation. Ford has already warned that the development and manufacture of electric cars requires less labor, so this situation could go further in the future.
“There’s a lot less work to do [que con] internal combustion engines. We are moving towards a world with fewer platforms where less engineering work is needed. That’s why we have to make these adjustments.”recently explained martin sanderhead of electric passenger cars in Europe and director of Ford Germany.
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, maroto kingshas reminded Ford that the granting of public aid is subject to maintaining employment, so it could be left out of the second call for PERTE (Strategic Projects for the Recovery and Economic Transformation) of the Electric and Connected Vehicle, whose endowment comes from European Next Generation funds.
Source | The country
