Ford of Europe is poised to eliminate more than 1,050 jobs at the Brigend Engine Plant in Wales, according to the British union representing representing them.
The company confirmed last week that it was poised to eliminate hundreds of jobs across its operations in both Great Britain and on the European continent. The Brigend plant currently employs 2,100 meaning the impending cuts would eliminate roughly 50% of the plant’s workforce.
Ford is in the midst of a broad restructuring of its operations worldwide with analysts estimating the total number of job cuts could top 15,000 or more.
Jim Farley, Ford president for Global Marketing, told reporters in Detroit the time would come for special attention to Europe and South America and the company moved forward with the restructuring. “We’ve been working on restructuring plans for the past year. Now we’re going to start talking about it,” said Farley, acknowledged the restructuring will require job cuts, particularly in Europe and South America.
(Ford, VW announce first of several joint ventures. Click Here for the story.)
“We see we have the core of a successful business in both places. They just have given the chance to come out,” he said.
Like officials from other automakers, Ford executives have complained about the impact of Brexit, Great Britain’s exit from the Europe Union, on the company’s ability to continue operating in Britain. The British parliament has been unable to reach an agreement on a deal that could minimize the disruption created by exit from the European Union.
(Click Here to see more about Ford’s discussions with Volkswagen.)
Without a deal covering that would cover the transfer of goods from one country to another such as custom checks and import duties, automakers operating in Britain would faces major snarls and extra costs since they depend on supply chains that stretch deep into Central and Eastern Europe.
Brexit or the threat of Brexit also has slowed economic activity across the British Isles, cutting sales of new vehicles for the past two years, hurting companies such as Ford, which has a substantial share of the British market where it has operated for more than a century.
(To see more about Ford being transparent about its turnaround plans, Click Here.)
Meanwhile, Ford and Volkswagen announced their new alliance on commercial vans and midsize trucks that could spawn a number of joint ventures around the world today during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
