Alex Trelinski
FORD has announced that it plans to cut 1,100 jobs- 20% of its workforce- at its Almussafes car plant in Valencia province.
Unions were informed on Friday, with Ford indicating a week earlier that it planned to make cuts.
The news follows last month’s announcement by Ford of 3,800 job losses elsewhere in Europe, including 2,300 positions in product development and administrative functions in Germany and 1,300 in the UK.
Last year, Ford said it was delaying production investments in Spain, citing a ‘revised outlook for Europe’, but emphasised that it was moving forward with plans to start producing electric vehicles later this decade at Almussafes.
The car manufacturer had made it clear that a switch to making electric vehicles would entail cuts to the workforce.
Valencian government vice-president, Aitana Mas, said: “Layoffs are not pleasant for anyone but seem to be in line with the future structural plans of the company.”
“We have always supported Ford and we also support the production of electric cars,” she added.
Production of the S-Max and Galaxy models will cease next month at Almussafes as Ford moves to manufacturing only electric passenger cars by 2030.
It means that only the Kuga SUV will be made at Almussafes until 2025, when the new GE2 electric car starts rolling off production lines.
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