The age-old Focus and Fiesta nameplates were the first victims of EV drives in Ford of EuropeIt is now being reported that the automaker will soon unleash a massive wave of excess and sell its Saarlouis, Germany plant.
German union IG Metall said Reuters Ford is considering cutting 2500 people, or 65%, of its European product development department and about 700 people in administrative roles. The majority of layoffs will happen in Germany.
Ford said discussions with the works councils are continuing and a final decision will be made by mid-February. The automaker has previously warned that switching to electric vehicles will require “structural changes” because electric cars require less labor to build.
Additionally, its upcoming pair of Europe-focused electric crossovers will use Volkswagen’s MEB architecture, while future electric vehicles will use the architecture being developed in the US.
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Production concentration in Saarlouis
One of the biggest losers in this potential fat loss will be the technical center Merkenich, just outside Germany. Merkenich is responsible for developing the Fiesta and Focus, both of which are being cut. The Fiesta is about to end this yearand The spotlight will be destroyed by 2025.
Both models were dropped as the company focused – sorry – on their more profitable crossover cousins, the Puma and Kuga/Escape, and switched to all-electric passenger cars. across Europe by 2030.
With the Mustang Mach-E already on sale, the second wave will come in the form of two crossovers based on the Volkswagen MEB architecture. These vehicles will be built at Ford’s Cologne plant, which currently produces the Fiesta.
While the future of the factory in Cologne has been secured, it is not yet clear what will happen to Ford’s plant in Saarlouis, near the border of France and Luxembourg.
Saarlouis currently produces the Focus hatch and wagon, and has been in the dark since June 2022, when Blue Oval announced Focus production in Europe would end in 2025. The automaker also lost the fight. internal contractor with Valencia to build a future generation of electric vehicles.
Sources told The Wall Street Journal Ford is hoping to sell its German plant to BYD, the Chinese carmaker backed by Warren Buffet.
In October 2022, BYD said Reuters it was hoping to produce electric cars in Europe in the near future. It already has an electric bus factory in Poland and since the beginning of last year, BYD’s range includes only plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.
It has also been pushing to more overseas markets, launching in Australia by the end of 2022.
According to the newspaper, senior Ford executives will fly to China next week for formal discussions. Negotiations are said to be in the early stages, so there’s a chance a deal won’t happen.
Ford and the Saarland state government are working together to find a new owner or use for the Saarlouis plant. All in all, there are said to be 15 parties interested in purchasing the site.
