BERLIN (Reuters) – Ford plans to cut 3,800 jobs in its administrative and product development departments in Europe over the next three years, the automaker said on Tuesday, citing rising costs and the need for a leaner structure. as part of the reorientation of production towards electric vehicles.
About 2,300 jobs will be cut at the automaker’s sites in Cologne and Aachen in Germany, 1,300 in the UK and 200 in the rest of Europe, the company said, adding that it had the intention to make these reductions through voluntary redundancy programs.
The news is a blow for the unions, which at the end of January had declared that the worst scenario envisaged involved 2,500 job cuts in Europe in product development and 700 others in administration.
These cuts are necessary to “revitalize business in Europe,” Ford said in a statement.
The automaker announced further cost cuts during its earnings conference call in early February, and chief financial officer John Lawler said it would be “very aggressive” in cutting manufacturing spending and chain operations. supply.
John Lawler also said at the time that the productivity of engineers in Europe was 25-30% lower than it should be.
The U.S. group will retain about 3,400 engineers in the region, who will take core technology provided by their U.S. counterparts and adapt it for European customers, said Martin Sander, head of electric passenger vehicles in Europe and head of Ford. Germany, at a press conference.
Nothing has changed in the automaker’s electrification strategy, added Martin Sander, referring to the group’s goal of having an all-electric fleet in Europe by 2035.
(Report Victoria Waldersee, Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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