Ford plans 4,000 more job cuts in Europe as EVs lose momentum
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The reductions will primarily hit operations in Germany and Britain by the end of 2027, pending consultations with unions and governments.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Frankfurt – Ford Motor will look to eliminate another 4,000 positions in Europe, further retrenching from a region where the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is losing traction industrywide.
The reductions – which amount to about 14 per cent of Ford Europe’s workforce – will primarily hit operations in Germany and Britain by the end of 2027, pending consultations with unions and governments.
The automaker also announced on Nov 21 that it will reduce production of Explorer and Capri EV models at its complex in Cologne, Germany.
Ford vowed in early 2021 to drastically overhaul its business in Europe, saying it would go almost completely electric by the end of the decade. That transformation has not been going to plan, with the company announcing early in 2023 that it would slash 3,800 jobs.
Peers including Volkswagen and Stellantis have issued profit warnings in recent months, citing the broad slowdown in vehicle sales and governments pulling support for EV purchases.
“What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility,” Ford’s vice-chairman and chief financial officer John Lawler said in a statement.
He called for more public investment in charging infrastructure, meaningful EV incentives and greater flexibility in carbon dioxide emissions-reduction targets, which the European Union and Britain are making more stringent in 2025. BLOOMBERG
