FILE PHOTO: A man walks past Ford cars at a showroom in Moscow, Russia, December 4, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is considering closing two major plants in Russia as part of its global plan to restructure operations in unprofitable regions, three industry sources told Reuters.
Faced with fourth-quarter losses in every part of the world outside North America, Ford is making cuts in Europe, closing down vehicle lines in South America and laying off thousands of workers in China.
In Russia, where Ford’s plants have a total production capacity of 360,000 vehicles a year, Ford could close its site in the northern Leningrad region and one of its plants in the central region of Tatarstan, the three sources in the industry said.
Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Olesya Astakhova; additional reporting Tatiana Voronova; writing by Polina Ivanova; editing by Christian Lowe and Tom Balmforth