Ford plans big UK job cuts as electric car sales hit unexpected roadblock
Ford announces plans to reduce its UK workforce by 800 people while scaling back electric vehicle production in Europe. The car-maker faces dropping sales and changing market conditions for battery-powered cars
Ford plans to cut-down its UK workforce by 800 people (which is bout 2.3% of its total 174‚000 employees) as part of a larger cost-saving plan in Europe
The car-maker is re-thinking its e-vehicle strategy due to lower-than-expected sales; the companyʼs European numbers dropped almost 18% this year which is way more than the industryʼs 6% decline. Other big names like Volkswagen and General Motors are making similar moves
Making this announcement isnt something that anybody wants to do‚ and I appreciate it will have a very significant impact on our employees
The job-cuts wont touch the companys main factories in:
- Dagenham
- Halewood
- Southampton
Most changes will hit office-based and development staff. John Lawler‚ the companys vice-chairman points out that Europe lacks clear e-mobility policies which makes things harder. This comes after UK government pushed-back the gas car ban from 2030 to 2035 last fall
The company which started its big European shake-up bout a year ago with 3‚800 job-cuts‚ is also closing its German plant next year. These steps show how car-makers are dealing with the gap between green rules and what people actually want to buy
