Source: Gasgoo
According to foreign media reports, Ford Motor is planning to shorten the working hours of production line employees at its plant in Cologne, Germany, due to slowing demand for electric vehicles in Europe.
German media Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger reports that in the run-up to this year’s Christmas holidays, employees at Ford’s Cologne plant will work one week on and one week off.
“We produce more cars than we can sell,” said an internal memo to employees at Ford’s plant in Cologne, Germany. “Demand for electric vehicles in Germany has been significantly lower than expected, so Ford will need to temporarily adjust electric vehicle production at its plants in Germany,” a Ford spokesman told DPA news agency.
Meanwhile, DPA reported that Ford has reduced the number of employees at its Cologne plant from 20,000 in 2018 to the current 13,000. Ford also plans to reduce shifts at the plant in early 2025. Workers at the plant are banking on the German government offering incentives to encourage consumers to buy electric cars.
Ford has been producing electric cars at its Cologne plant since July last year, when it stopped production of its fuel-powered Fiesta compact car. Ford has invested $2 billion to revamp its Cologne plant to produce the Ford Explorer and Capri models. Production of the Ford Explorer SUV began at the plant in June, and production of the Ford Capri crossover based on the Explorer began in September. Both models are produced under a partnership agreement between Ford Motor and Volkswagen Group based on the MEB platform of the Volkswagen Group.
Ford Explorer 2025; Image Source: Ford
Ford also plans to stop producing the Focus compact at its Saarlouis plant in Germany next year and is seeking investors to take over the plant.
Weak demand for electric vehicles in Europe is causing problems for global automakers, and the reason for the decline in demand for electric vehicles in Europe is the high price of electric vehicles, uncertainty about subsidies for new car purchases, different opinions on the EU’s 2035 ban on internal combustion engine vehicles, insufficient number of electric vehicle charging stations and inflationary pressures.
Ford has been hit harder than many of its rivals by sluggish demand in Europe because it offers fewer fuel-powered models to make up for the weakness in its electric vehicle business. The company has been scaling back its passenger car business in Europe to focus on its more profitable light commercial vans, dominated by its Transit line of models.
Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) showed that in the first nine months of the year, total new car sales in the EU, EFTA and UK markets edged up 1% year-on-year to 9,779,605 units, while Ford’s passenger car sales fell 17.9% year-on-year to 326,975 units. The company’s market share fell to 3.3% from 4.1% in the same period last year.
