Ford said it will start producing electric vehicles in Spain at the end of this decade, but that this would imply a “significant” cut in jobs in its Spanish factory and in another in Germany, amid its ambitious push for electrification in Europe.
The automaker said in a statement that it had chosen its Valencia plant as the preferred location to assemble cars based on a new-generation electric vehicle architecture.
The other competitor for the project was Ford’s plant in Saarlouis, Germany, which will continue to produce its passenger car. focus.
Workers in Valencia and Saarlouis have been told a restructuring will be needed in the short term and the scope would be “significant”, a Ford spokesman told Reuters, without elaborating.
Ford had earlier warned that the switch to electric vehicle production would likely lead to workforce cuts, as electric cars require fewer man-hours to assemble.
The workforce at the Ford plant in Valencia is about 6,000 people, while in Saarlouis about 4,600 work.
The Spanish union UGT described as “great news” the designation of the plant of electric carssince it guarantees production for more than a decade, while the plant had seen production of previous models reduced.
UGT said it expected electric vehicle production to start in 2025.
But the union said in a statement that the push for electric cars will involve discussing with Ford how the workforce will be downsized.
Ford announced plans in March to build seven new electric models in Europe, a battery assembly center in Germany and a battery manufacturing joint venture. nickel cells in Turkey.
The company said that in 2023 it would start producing a new electric passenger vehicle at the German plant in Cologne, while an electric version of its Puma model would be produced in Romania from 2024.
the german volkswagen announced earlier this year that it would start producing electric vehicles in Spain in 2025 and that it would open a battery production plant in Valencia.