Ford and Volkswagen inked a partnership agreement a few years ago that has thus far led to the launch of several jointly-produced models, and that relationship is expected to grow and expand moving forward, too. However, both automakers have faced their fair share of challenges in the European market as of late, with demand for EVs waning behind expected levels of growth and increasing competition from Chinese manufacturers. In fact, Volkswagen was in serious danger of closing several plants in Germany as it works to right the financial ship, though now, that won’t be the case, after all.
According to Automotive News, Volkswagen has reached a deal with its works council that will keep all 10 of the automaker’s European plants operational until 2030. However, quite a few concessions had to be made on the union’s part – workers are forgoing certain bonuses, the number of trainees who will be granted permanent status has been cut, and VW will slash its production capacity at five of those plants, which amounts to a total of 730,000 vehicles. Volkswagen will also eliminate 35,000 jobs at its German plants by 2030, a move that will reportedly net the company €15 billion ($15.6 billion) in efficiency gains.
“No site will be closed, no one will be laid off for operational reasons and our company wage agreement will be secured for the long term,” works council chief Daniela Cavallo said. “With this triple deal, we have achieved a rock-solid solution under the most difficult economic conditions.”
Meanwhile, Ford Europe recently announced that it would be trimming 4,000 jobs by the end of 2027 – most of them in the UK and Germany – as it faces weak demand for its all-electric models and passenger vehicles, as a whole. The Blue Oval is trimming back production of the fairly new Ford Explorer EV and Capri that will result in the addition of more short-time days at the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center in Germany starting in Q1 2025, and will instead focus on expanding its successful Ford Pro commercial business. Regardless, analysts still believe Ford faces a rather bleak future in that region.
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