Ford Motors To Cut 3,200 Jobs Across Europe, Workers' Union Vows To Fight

Rising electric vehicle battery material costs and projected slowdowns in US and European economies have put a pressure on the automobile manufacturers to cut expenses.

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Ford Motors plans to cut up 3,200 jobs across Europe while moving some product development work to the United States, said Germany’s IG Metall union on Monday, vowing action that would disrupt the carmaker across the continent if the cuts go ahead, reported Reuters. Rising electric vehicle battery material costs and projected slowdowns in US and European economies have put a pressure on the automobile manufacturers to cut expenses, the report stated. 

The pressure was intensified earlier this month with the EV price war launched by Tesla Inc, the report quoted analysts as saying. 

The company wants to cut 2,500 jobs in product development and 700 in administrative roles, said the IG Metall. 

The plans were informed to the workers at the US carmaker’s Cologne site with 14,000 people, including 3,800 at a development centre in the Merkenich area, during a works council meeting on Monday. 

The company had warned in June last year of “significant” job cuts in the near term at its Spain factory and plants in Saarlouis, Germany, as the shift to EV production meant it would require fewer labour hours to assemble cars.

Last year, the automaker had announced an investment of $2 billion for expansion of production at its Cologne plant to make an all-electric model for the mass market. The plant currently produces the Ford Fiesta as well as engines and transmissions.

The company, with about 45,000 employees in Europe, has been 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.

It has also inked a pact with Volkswagen to produce 1.2 million vehicles on the German carmaker’s MEB electric platform over six years.