Last Update: January 24, 2023, 09:40 AM IST
2014 Ford Classic (Photo: Ford)
Ford last year announced a $2 billion investment to expand production at its Cologne plant to produce a fully electric model for the mass market.
Ford Motor Co plans to cut 3,200 jobs across Europe and move some product development work to the United States, Germany’s IG Metal union said on Monday, adding that if the cuts go ahead the carmaker could spread across the continent. will be interrupted.
Rising costs of electric vehicle battery materials and a projected recession in the US and European economies are putting pressure on automakers to cut spending. Analysts said the EV price war launched by Tesla Inc earlier this month has intensified that pressure. IG Metal said the company is looking to cut 2,500 jobs in product development and up to 700 in administrative roles.
Workers at the US carmaker’s Cologne site, which employs around 14,000 people – including 3,800 at a development center in the Merkenich area – were informed of the plans at works council meetings on Monday.
A Ford spokesman in Germany declined to comment, referring to a statement on Friday in which it said the transition to electric vehicles (EV) production required structural changes and would not say more until when. until the plans are finalized.
A spokeswoman for the automaker’s headquarters in Michigan said discussions were ongoing with German works councils and that the company needed to be “more competitive” as it transitions to EVs. He would not comment on specific action plans.
Ford last year announced a $2 billion investment to expand production at its Cologne plant to produce an all-electric model for the mass market. The plant currently produces engines and transmissions for the Ford Fiesta as well.
The carmaker, which employs about 45,000 people in Europe, is planning seven new electric models in the region, a battery assembly site in Germany and a nickel cell manufacturing joint venture in Turkey as part of a major EV push on the continent. Used to be.
It has also partnered with Volkswagen to produce 1.2 million vehicles over six years on the German carmaker’s MEB electric platform.
Representatives for Ford and Volkswagen said the partnership remains in place, although a Ford of the United States spokesman said Volkswagen’s role in Ford’s next-generation European electric vehicles is still to be determined.
However, it warned last June of “significant” job cuts at its factory in Spain and its plant in Saarlouis, Germany, as the shift to EV production meant fewer labor hours would be needed to assemble the cars .
Ford’s pretax profit margin in Europe was 2.2% of sales for the first nine months of 2022, well below North American levels. It also warned of weakening economic conditions in Europe in October.
IG Metal said, “If the talks between the works council and the management in the coming weeks do not ensure the future of the workers, we will engage in the process.”
“We will not back down from measures that could seriously affect the company not only in Germany but across Europe.”
Ford shares were up 3.9% at $12.89 in New York on Monday afternoon. Shares of rival General Motors Co rose 3.1% to $36.45, while Tesla stock rose 7.6% to $143.60.
read all latest business news Here
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)