Ford Explorer, Capri EV Plant To Shed 1,000 Jobs As Demand Wanes

Ford has faced its fair share of struggles in Europe, in general, over the past couple of years, largely due to waning demand for its passenger vehicles and EVs in that region. This is especially true of the relatively new Ford Explorer and Capri EVs, both of which are built at the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center in Germany. Ford opted to cut back production of the EV crossovers there last year due to weak demand, and now, it’s planning to shed some jobs for the very same reason.

According to Reuters, Ford plans to cut upwards of 1,000 jobs at the Cologne plant due to weak demand for the Ford Explorer and Capri EVs, news that it delivered via a statement. “In Europe, demand for electric cars remains well below industry forecasts,” the statement reads. “Ford will therefore switch production at the Cologne plant to single-shift operation from January 2026.” Ford did add that it would offer voluntary redundancy packages to impacted workers, however.

It was just last November that Ford informed Cologne workers that it would be scaling back production of the Ford Explorer and Capri due to weak demand for those relatively new models. Those plans included having employees work one week and then taking one week off until the Christmas vacation, and the automaker also announced that it would be scaling back shifts in 2025, too. The union that represents those workers – IG Metall – warned at the time that such cuts could spell the end of the Cologne plant.

However, this past July, Ford reached an agreement with IG Metall that resulted in protection for all employees at the Cologne plant through 2032, which it said will happen via voluntary redundancies, enabling The Blue Oval to achieve its restructuring goals without having to force layoffs. In the meantime, the automaker spent around $100 million working to restructure its European operations in the first half of 2025 alone, amid its struggles in that region.