Reuters has learned of Ford's plans to cut 14% of its European workforce

German automaker Ford announced plans to cut about 14% of its employees in Europe due to weak demand for electric cars, weak government support and competition from Chinese rivals. This was reported by Reuters on November 20.

"Ford said it will cut 4,000 jobs, about 2.3% of its total workforce of 174,000 people, this will happen mainly in Germany and the UK," the article said, specifying that the auto industry sector is facing challenges, including electric vehicles that are proving too expensive for consumers.

The company specified that the layoffs should take place by the end of 2027. At the same time, 2.9 thousand cuts will take place in Germany and 800 in the UK.

"Ford is facing weaker demand for electric vehicles than we had previously forecast, and we continue to have challenges with operating costs," the agency quoted Ford Europe Vice President Peter Godsell as saying.

He added that the carmaker needs "decisive action to restructure the business." While it is hoped that job cuts will solve some of the problems, further action cannot be ruled out if market conditions worsen.

Earlier, on September 3, Reuters reported that Volkswagen is considering closing a number of plants in Germany. The concern said that it considers one car assembly plant and one plant for the production of components obsolete. Bloomberg on September 16 learned about the possible reduction of 15 thousand employees of Volkswagen plants.

A month later, it became known that the four federal states of Germany opposed the closure of Volkswagen plants and "severe cuts" at the expense of employees, offering to conclude a new contract to ensure employment. Then, in October, the official representative of the German government Wolfgang Büchner recalled that the Chancellor of the FRG Olaf Scholz made an assumption that the reason for the announced closure of a number of plants Volkswagen AG are wrong decisions of the management of the automobile concern, and urged him to save as many jobs as possible.

On October 29, it became known that Volkswagen is preparing to close plants in Germany in Osnabrück, Dresden and Emden. Never before in its history Volkswagen has not closed plants in Germany. Employees of the company staged a wave of protests.