Ford job cuts in Cologne development center to become smaller

It is currently becoming clear that the new austerity measures will have less of an impact on the production of vehicles than previously thought. Ford's plans will affect administrative areas. The new restructuring should primarily have an impact on administrative functions and the supply of spare parts, in addition to vehicle development.

Ford had already stated in its 2017 announcement that there should be a significant decrease in the number of passenger car models sold in Europe. The US organization wants to limit production of cars on the European continent to fully electric models by 2030.

After the workers meeting, company circles reported that the new cost-cutting program could result in the elimination of up to 2,500 of the 3,800 jobs currently employed at the Ford development center in Cologne. Well-trained engineers would be particularly impacted by this.

19 or so continue to be employed. 000 individuals worked for Ford Germany, 14,000 of them in Cologne.

The plans have been announced as being opposed by the works council and IG Metall. andgt;.

Van models like the S-Max and C-Max, as well as the mid-range Mondeo, have already been phased out. In the summer, the Cologne plant that makes the compact Fiesta stops producing it.

In 2025, Ford in Saarlouis will stop producing the Focus, a car that competes with the Golf, and then will completely abandon the auto plant. This will result in 4,500 employees losing their jobs.

There will only be a small number of the roughly a dozen Ford models manufactured in Europe in the future. Instead of making Fiestas in Cologne, two brand-new electric models that were created using the MEB Volkswagen electric kit will be produced.

At Ford's German headquarters, production of the first electric model is set to start in October, with production of a second all-electric vehicle to follow the following year. Ford is the only automaker that produces electric vehicles. By the end of the decade, two more electric Ford models are anticipated to be produced at the Valencia, Spain, plant.

These vehicles will once again be created and built on a Ford-owned platform in accordance with the previous plan. In the USA, the necessary development work can be concentrated much more strongly.

. The development engineers there have spent the last few years primarily working on converting Volkswagen's meb electrical kit to work with Ford systems, after which they created their own Ford models using this framework.

Regarding the information from the works meeting, a company spokesman stated, "We do not comment on the current speculation about a potential restructuring at Ford in Europe. Ford is currently accelerating its plans to create a lineup of entirely electric vehicles in Europe.

"This transformation brings significant changes to how we design, build, and sell Ford vehicles, and it will have implications for our future organizational structure," the Ford spokesman continued. Following the announcement of the final choices, the US group will provide more information.

We make no remarks regarding the recent rumors regarding a potential reorganization at Ford Europe. Ford spokesman on the information from the works meeting At Ford's headquarters in Cologne, it was reported outside of the works meeting that jobs are not only being cut in the development center.

The supply of spare parts for the US automaker's dealer network has been centralized in the Rhineland as well. Since fully electric vehicles are less likely to need repairs, the need for spare parts also declines with the switch to these vehicles.

Due to this, Ford also plans to reduce the size of the Cologne spare parts center, where 1200 people are currently employed. The administration area in Cologne, where Ford's German and European headquarters are located, will undergo additional reductions, resulting in a significantly smaller Ford Europe.

There are currently 3,300 people employed in the administration of the US automobile company. According to reports, this could be reduced by up to 20%, i.e.

e. around 600 positions.

Additionally, there are issues in Aachen, where Ford has a research facility and several hundred employees. New internal combustion engines are the main topic of discussion.

. In the future, it's possible that the Cologne engine plant will no longer be necessary.

The manufacturing of electric vehicles in Cologne will make use of its workers. Ford will steadfastly adhere to its decision to shut down the Saarlouis auto plant.

Martin Sander, the country manager for Ford in Germany, stated last year that the company could only keep 500 to 700 employees on the payroll. Saarlouis workers will be offered positions in the vehicle manufacturing facility in Cologne.

For many years, Ford Europe has struggled with serious financial issues. Due to declining sales and idle factories, losses amounting to billions of dollars had accumulated.

In the European auto industry, the US group did not have much success. Although Ford still dominates the European market for light commercial vehicles, sales figures for these vehicles have improved significantly.

More information is available at Luxury instead of Mass: How the car industry is still posting record profits despite all the crises.

After the workers meeting, company circles reported that the new cost-cutting program could result in the elimination of up to 2,500 of the 3,800 jobs currently employed at the Ford development center in Cologne.