Ford plans to cut 3,800 jobs in the product development and administration units in Europe in three years, the company announced on Tuesday, due to increased costs and the need for a leaner structure as the company changes its production base to electric vehicles.
The company plans to cut about 2,300 jobs in Germany, 1,300 in the United Kingdom, and 200 in the rest of Europe through voluntary programs.
According to Martin Sander, chief and head of Ford Germany, the American automaker will keep nearly 3,400 engineers in the region to build on core technology provided by its US partner and adapt to European customers.
Sander stated the reason for the change is that there is less work to be done on drivetrains moving out of combustion engines and Ford moving to the world with less global platform and also the engineering work is less necessary.
Ford will launch the first electric vehicle in Europe built on Volkswagen’s MEB platform in Cologne later this year, said Sander.
Sander added that the company is prepared to compete and win in this region, while facing unprecedented economic and geopolitical headwinds.
