Ford Motor Company announced Thursday it is cutting 12,000 jobs and selling or closing six plants in Europe by the end of next year as part of a business redesign.
According to the company, they will close the Ford Aquitaine Industries Transmission Plant in France, the Naberezhnye Chelny Assembly, St. Petersburg Assembly and Elabuga Engine Plant in Russia, the proposed closure of the Bridgend Engine Plant in South Wales and the sale of the Kechnec Transmission Plant in Slovakia to Magna.
With the closures, Ford's number of plants in Europe will go from 24 to 18 by the end of the year, and they will also close the Ford of Britain and Ford Credit Europe headquarters in Warley.
The company said it will implement shift reductions at assembly plants in Saarlouis, Germany, and Valencia, Spain.
According to the company, about 12,000 jobs will be impacted by the end of next year, mostly through voluntarily separations. Around 2,000 of those are salaried positions, which are among the 7,000 salaried positions Ford reduced globally.
“Separating employees and closing plants are the hardest decisions we make, and in recognition of the effect on families and communities, we are providing support to ease the impact,” Ford of Europe President Stuart Rowley said in a release. “We are grateful for the ongoing consultations with our works councils, trade union partners and elected representatives. Together, we are moving forward and focused on building a long-term sustainable future for our business in Europe.”
The cuts are part of the new European operating model which becomes effective July 1, and it will create three new business groups – Commercial Vehicles, Passenger Vehicles and Imports.
The CV group will work with the new alliance with Volkswagen, announced earlier this year, to bring more vans and pickups beginning in 2023 to Europe. The PV group will work to bring more European-built cars and SUVs to the area, and the Imports group will bring iconic passenger vehicles like the Ford Mustang, Ford Explorer and a new Mustang-inspired fully electric performance coming in late 2020.
This story was originally published by Max White on WXYZ in Detroit.
