Ford Motor
Company(NYSE:F) reportedly cutting 1,500 UK jobs and shutting down plant since
losses in Europe are escalating at an alarming rate. Losses have exceeded $1.5
billion.
Ford announced on
Thursday that it will cut 1,500 jobs in Britain and eliminate a stamping and
tooling facility as it warned that losses in Europe will cross $1.5 billion
this year.
For Motor Co. announced
on Wednesday that it will close a plant in Brussels. It clearly seems to be
struggling in Europe. Sales are down since the region’s economic crisis is
hurting the demand from households and business fronts.
Ford mentioned that its
transit van plant based in Southampton would be shut down in July and the stamping
and tolling facility based in east London would be closed sometime next year. Transit
van production will be consolidated at the plant in Kocaeli, Turkey.
The plant in
Southampton employed 500 workers. It was Ford’s last vehicle assembly plant in
Britain. Production has deteriorated from 66,000 in 2008 to 28,000 the previous
year, when the work was reduced to a single shift.
Presently, Ford has
11,500 workers at plants in Britain, as told by Unite union.
Ford has promised
further investments at the Dagenham plant in east London to support production
of a new 20-litre, four-cylinder low-CO2 diesel engine lineup. It has plans for
investing in Bridgend plant in Wales to support gasoline engine manufacturing.
Chairman of Ford of
Britain, Joe Greenwall said that investing and building on the company’s strong
points is the only way to tackle the new economic reality in Europe and help in
building a profitable business.
General Secretary of
the Unite union, Len McCluskey said that workers would fight against the
closures of plants. He said that the
announcement has been handled outrageously.
Ford’s sales were down
14.9% in September when compared with a year ago.
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