Ford to lay off 4,000 workers temporarily at its Valencia factory
27 Nov 2011|3,548 views
The Valencia factory currently employs 6,200 workers, but Ford has announced that it will temporarily lay off 4,000 of them for 39 days over 2012, according to Adrian Schmitz, a spokesman for the Ford’s European operations in Cologne, Germany.“This downtime is related to product changeover at the plant and the expectation that demand will remain weak next year across the European industry”, said Schmitz. "The decline in demand for both Spain and Europe is affecting all of the industry,” he added.
According to Spanish news site El Economista, Ford's move will reduce production of the facility by 34%. The plant will cease making the Fiesta and start manufacturing the new Kuga and Transit Connect van at the end of 2012.
Analysts like Bankhaus Metzler’s Juergen Pieper believe that the situation will only get worse. “It is certainly a sign of frail demand. It’s only likely to get worse. More manufacturers will see sales worsen next year and this will lead to more job cuts.”
Pieper added that Ford is in better shape than most rivals are to deal with the reduced demand expected in 2012, since it recorded a 6.4% increase in European sales compared to October 2010, despite overall European sales dropping 1.4% in October 2011. However, the Ford’s sales in Spain declined by 6.7% in the same month.
PSA Peugeot Citroen has already said that it would cut as many as 3,500 permanent work positions, and both Renault and GM have announced that they will temporarily suspend some production lines in their French and Spanish plants respectively.
The Valencia factory currently employs 6,200 workers, but Ford has announced that it will temporarily lay off 4,000 of them for 39 days over 2012, according to Adrian Schmitz, a spokesman for the Ford’s European operations in Cologne, Germany.
“This downtime is related to product changeover at the plant and the expectation that demand will remain weak next year across the European industry”, said Schmitz. "The decline in demand for both Spain and Europe is affecting all of the industry,” he added.
According to Spanish news site El Economista, Ford's move will reduce production of the facility by 34%. The plant will cease making the Fiesta and start manufacturing the new Kuga and Transit Connect van at the end of 2012.
Analysts like Bankhaus Metzler’s Juergen Pieper believe that the situation will only get worse. “It is certainly a sign of frail demand. It’s only likely to get worse. More manufacturers will see sales worsen next year and this will lead to more job cuts.”
Pieper added that Ford is in better shape than most rivals are to deal with the reduced demand expected in 2012, since it recorded a 6.4% increase in European sales compared to October 2010, despite overall European sales dropping 1.4% in October 2011. However, the Ford’s sales in Spain declined by 6.7% in the same month.
PSA Peugeot Citroen has already said that it would cut as many as 3,500 permanent work positions, and both Renault and GM have announced that they will temporarily suspend some production lines in their French and Spanish plants respectively.
“This downtime is related to product changeover at the plant and the expectation that demand will remain weak next year across the European industry”, said Schmitz. "The decline in demand for both Spain and Europe is affecting all of the industry,” he added.
According to Spanish news site El Economista, Ford's move will reduce production of the facility by 34%. The plant will cease making the Fiesta and start manufacturing the new Kuga and Transit Connect van at the end of 2012.
Analysts like Bankhaus Metzler’s Juergen Pieper believe that the situation will only get worse. “It is certainly a sign of frail demand. It’s only likely to get worse. More manufacturers will see sales worsen next year and this will lead to more job cuts.”
Pieper added that Ford is in better shape than most rivals are to deal with the reduced demand expected in 2012, since it recorded a 6.4% increase in European sales compared to October 2010, despite overall European sales dropping 1.4% in October 2011. However, the Ford’s sales in Spain declined by 6.7% in the same month.
PSA Peugeot Citroen has already said that it would cut as many as 3,500 permanent work positions, and both Renault and GM have announced that they will temporarily suspend some production lines in their French and Spanish plants respectively.
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