Big slash: Ford Motor to cut thousands of jobs, bets on EV tech

Ford Motor Co. plans to cut about 3,200 jobs across Europe, with a majority concentrated in Germany affecting roles in product development and administrative areas, according to the IG Metall union.

The number of reductions emerged in an extraordinary works council meeting at the carmaker’s factory in Cologne on Monday, an IG Metall spokesperson said. The cuts would affect roughly 65% of all development jobs in Europe, as well as 20% of all of the region’s administrative roles. Development activities in Germany would be relocated to US, according to an IG Metall statement.

The European cutbacks come after Ford already eliminated 3,000 jobs primarily in the US in the second half of last year. Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley is targeting $3 billion in cuts as he seeks to boost profits from traditional internal combustion engine models to help finance the $50 billion he is pouring into developing electric vehicles.

Ford declined to confirm the cuts with a spokesman saying that “no decisions have been made." The carmaker in June had warned of cuts at its European workforce, as development and production of electric vehicles is less labor intensive.

Ford employs some 4,600 at the Saarlouis plant in Germany, where the carmaker will cease making the Focus model by 2025 with no plans to produce any other cars there after that. The company is seeking alternatives for the site, while sticking with a $2 billion planned EV investment at its key European production site in Cologne, where Ford employs about 14,000 workers.