Ford restructures in Europe, 800 UK jobs to go

Ford has confirmed that 4,000 jobs will go across its European workforce, as part of a plan to ‘create a more cost competitive structure’. The cuts, which will include around 800 UK-based roles, are expected to occur by the end of 2027. It follows a fairly torrid time for the industry generally – Covid, supply chains, inflation, limited EV demand – and a rotten couple of years for Ford generally, with the demise of the much-loved Fiesta and electric cars that have been good rather than great. The Focus ST will bow out in fine fettle, the continued evolution of the Mustang is great news, and the Ranger Raptor is brilliant – but their standout quality has served to highlight its shortfall elsewhere. At least the Puma still sells extremely well. 

In its announcement, Ford spoke of the ‘significant disruption’ in the shift towards electrified mobility and the dichotomy between what they’re being asked to make and what people actually want to buy. CFO and Vice Chairman John Lawler wrote a letter to the German government as part of the restructure confirmation; he said:  “What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility, such as public investments in charging infrastructure, meaningful incentives to help consumers make the shift to electrified vehicles, improving cost competitiveness for manufacturers, and greater flexibility in meeting CO2 compliance targets.” Plenty that’s been heard before, though it does seem to come with additional urgency now Ford is having to axe thousands of jobs to stay on track. Ford says it’s still committed to no longer selling combustion engined cars in Europe from 2035. 

The bulk of the job losses will come in Germany, with something like 2,900 roles up for redundancy. Weaker than expected demand for EVs (after a $2bn investment in the Cologne facility and staff) will see the Explorer and Capri production lines run at reduced capacity. Over here, the losses will be in admin, commercial and development roles, rather than at factories like Dagenham or Halewood. 

Bleak news then, though Ford says it remains committed to the continent. Dave Johnston, Ford’s European vice president for Transformation and Partnerships, added: “We are proud of our new product portfolio for Europe and committed to building a thriving business in Europe for generations to come. It is critical to take difficult but decisive action to ensure Ford’s future competitiveness in Europe.” We’re told to expect a future line-up with a ‘thriving’ Ford Pro CV business, a select range of passenger cars (and powertrains) that are ‘successful and profitable’ as well as a ‘modern, highly efficient industrial system.’ All sounds very sensible, though at the moment it feels like strategy, ambition and targets will have to remain fluid as the situation continues to evolve. In the meantime, and more pertinently: best of British to any Ford employees directly affected.