[ad_1]
Barcelona-Ford will begin production of electric vehicles (EVs) in Spain on Wednesday, but in the midst of ambitious electrification promotion in Europe, it means “significant” headcount reductions in Spanish factories and Germany. Stated.
The automaker said in a statement that it chose the Valencia plant as a suitable location for assembling vehicles based on the next-generation EV architecture.
Another candidate for this project is Ford’s plant in Saarlouis, Germany, which will continue to produce Focus passenger cars.
Employees of Valencia and Saarlouis are said to need short-term restructuring, the scale of which is “important,” a Ford spokesman told Reuters without giving details.
Ford had previously warned that the shift to EV production could lead to a reduction in the workforce, as the labor required to assemble an electric vehicle is low.
Ford’s Valencia plant employs about 6,000 people and Saarlouis employs about 4,600 people.
The Spanish union UGT called the designation of an EV plant “great news”. This is because the production of the previous model has decreased, while production is guaranteed for more than 10 years.
UGT said it expects EV production to begin in 2025.
However, the union said in a statement that promoting EV meant discussing with Ford how the size of the workforce would change.
In March, Ford announced plans for a joint venture to manufacture seven new electric models in Europe, a battery assembly site in Germany, and a nickel cell in Turkey.
It announced that it will start production of new electric passenger cars at its Cologne plant in Germany in 2023, and that the EV version of the Puma model will be produced in Romania from 2024.
Volkswagen of Germany announced that it will start EV production in Spain earlier this year and open a battery production plant in Valencia.
By Joan Faus
follow
[ad_2]