Ford Focus Production May Be Impacted By Strike

March 8, 2024 10:29 am

Back in June 2022, FoMoCo announced that the the Valencia Assembly plant in Spain will be converted to produce electric vehicles later this decade, while the Saarlouis Assembly plant in Germany will cease production in 2025. However, even with production of the Ford Focus set to end at Saarlouis in November 2025, Ford later changed course and said that it would keep that plant open through 2032, albeit with a greatly reduced workforce as it seeks to find a buyer for that particular facility. Now, however, Ford Focus production is facing another potential snag stemming from a strike by nearby suppliers, according to Yahoo News.

German union IG Metall recently called for the employees of five suppliers in Sararlouis – Magna, Benteler, Tenneco, Rhenus LMS, and Lear Corp – to go on strike as it claims that those companies have “not made any negotiable offers to IG Metall in negotiations on a social collective agreement since July 2023, but merely offered a cheap fob-off,” according to Ralf Cavelius, lead negotiator for the local branch of IG Metall.

This action comes after a February 29^th deadline and a further two-day moratorium passed without any sort of agreement, meaning that 500 workers are now set to participate in the indefinite strike. IG Metall previously agreed to Ford’s proposed job cuts at the Saarlouis Assembly plant when Ford Focus production ends next year, with the total reduction coming in at around 3,500 workers. This is precisely the number that was previously expected, meaning that only 1,000 of the plant’s current 4,500 employee workforce will remain intact after next year. Regardless, this new strike will likely means that Ford Focus production will be impacted.

“This means that within a few hours, production at the Ford plant itself will also come to a standstill, as no cars can be produced without engines/transmissions, axles, body parts, wiring systems and exhaust systems,” the union announced in a statement.

We’ll have more on this potential strike soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.