The automobile company ford strokes in Germany massive jobs. In total, around 4,000 jobs should be lost in Europe by the end of 2027, 2,900 of them in Germany, the company announced on Wednesday. Most of the jobs are to be eliminated at the Cologne plant, 800 in Great Britain and 300 in other EU countries.
The European headquarters and the production of two electric car models are located in Cologne. According to the works council, Ford currently has around 11,500 jobs in the cathedral city – that would mean that around one in four Ford jobs there could be eliminated.
The company said Ford had made high losses in the passenger car segment in recent years. In this segment, the costs of switching to electric cars are high. The company also referred to Stromer competitors and strict CO₂ emissions targets. From Ford’s perspective, such requirements are an obstacle to the separate business with combustion engines.
The works council and IG Metall announced resistance to the reduction plans on Wednesday. “Ford Europe published the reduction plan today without informing the general works council in advance. We have never experienced this disregard for social partnership in Germany,” said works council leader Benjamin Gruschka. “It is clear that redundancies for operational reasons are excluded at the German locations until the end of 2032. We will under no circumstances support such a destructive dismantling on a voluntary basis,” said David Lüdtke, trust body manager at the Ford works in Cologne.
Kerstin Klein from IG Metall added that a reduction “using the lawnmower method” was not conceivable, “because the employees remaining after the last restructuring measures have already reached their limits.” The management’s plans would “massively threaten the continued existence” of the remaining German locations.
Ford is not alone with its problems. Ultimately, all German car manufacturers are currently under a lot of pressure. After the state subsidy for electric cars was abolished, demand has collapsed, and the sluggish economy and job fears are also leading to consumer reluctance to buy.
Missed expectations
Ford manager Marcus Wassenberg said that they wanted to continue to operate a strong business in Europe for future generations. “We must therefore implement difficult but decisive measures to ensure Ford’s competitiveness in Europe.”
Management reinforced its appeal to federal policymakers to improve market conditions. In Germany and Europe there is a lack of “a consistent and clear political agenda to promote electromobility,” complains the Ford executive team.
Ford has invested almost two billion euros in its Cologne location in 2023 and 2024 in order to be able to produce electric cars. Production of the Fiesta small car combustion engine model was discontinued. Two electric car models from Ford are now rolling off the assembly line in Cologne – they are the first series production cars from Europe.
But the high expectations have not yet been met to any extent. Management had to reposition itself when German boss Martin Sander unexpectedly moved to VW this summer. Other senior managers also turned their backs on Ford.
In order to solve the problems, Ford is now continuing to shrink. In 2018, the car manufacturer still had almost 20,000 employees in the cathedral city, but by the end of 2027 there will likely be less than half of that number.