Ford Cutting 1,100 Jobs in Spain As Part of EV Drive

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Dearborn, Michigan) has announced plans for another 1,100 jobs cuts in Europe as the company shifts global production to electric vehicles (EVs).

The cuts will be made in Spain, where the company told workers and unions that it will be undertaking "a profound restructuring of its operations." The cuts amount to around 20% of the workforce at the Valencia plant--one the largest outside of the U.S.--which has traditionally turned out popular Ford models including the Kuga, Galaxy, S-MAX, Mondeo and Transit Connect. The news comes just weeks after the company unveiled 4,000 job cuts for its German and U.K. manufacturing operations. For additional information, see February 27, 2022, article--Ford Slashing 4,000 European Jobs in EV Push.

A Ford spokesperson said: "Ford is taking another step in its European transformation by announcing plans to resize its workforce. Ford will work constructively with its union partners to reduce the impact of the separations on employees, their families, and the local community." Production of the Mondeo car stopped at Valencia last year while the company had previously revealed that production of the S-Max and Galaxy minivans would end in April as the company focused more on SUVs and EVs. A Spanish UGT union spokesperson, José Luis Parra Navarro, confirmed that much of the workforce would be "surplus" when the plant shifts to making EVs since they "require less labor."

Later this month Ford will unveil its first EV for the European market. Industrial Info is tracking four Ford projects in Europe to convert existing plants from making combustion engine vehicles to assembling EVs. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the report.

In related EV plant news, Chinese EV maker BYD (Xi'An, China) revealed to the Financial Times that it ruled out the U.K. as a potential location for its first European car assembly plant because of Brexit--the U.K.'s controversial decision to leave the European Union (EU). "As an investor we want a country to be stable," said Michael Shu, BYD's European president. "To open a factory is a decision that covers decades. Without Brexit, maybe. But after Brexit, we don't understand what happened. The U.K. doesn't have a very good solution. Even on the long list we didn't have the U.K." The news comes just weeks after the U.K. heard that Ford will be cutting 1,300 jobs there as it shifts to EVs and also the collapse of EV battery startup Britishvolt (Blyth), widely regarded as the U.K.'s only homegrown chance to get into the fast-growing EV battery sector. For additional information, see January 19, 2023, article - U.K.'s EV Hopes Dashed as Britishvolt Collapses.

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