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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

Ford safeguards Merseyside jobs as it prepares to cut 3,800 roles across Europe

Automotive giant Ford has confirmed all jobs at its Halewood factory will not be impacted by plans to cut 3,800 roles across Europe.

Included in the redundancy round will be 1,300 jobs in the UK over the next three years.

The global carmaker said 2,800 engineering roles will be axed by 2025, and around 1,000 jobs in its administrative, marketing, sales and distribution teams across Europe are set to go.

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However a spokesman confirmed to BusinessLive that all roles at its Halewood factory will be protected.

In a statement Ford said the shake-up will pave the way for a profitable future and to compete with rival car brands in Europe, which has faced significant economic and political challenges.

The job losses will create a "leaner, more competitive cost structure" for the business and help with the transition toward a smaller, more focused and increasingly electric product portfolio, the company said.

Martin Sander, the general manager of Ford Model e in Europe, said: "These are difficult decisions, not taken lightly. We recognise the uncertainty it creates for our team, and I assure them we will be offering them our full support in the months ahead.

"We will engage in consultations with our social partners so we can move forward together on building a thriving future for our business in Europe."

The news comes after Ford announced plans in December 2022 to invest a further £125m at its Halewood factory in a move that will secure 500 jobs.

At the time, the company said the site is "integral" to its European electrification plans which will see it only sell zero-emission cars from 2030 and all vehicles by 2035.

The extra funding will be put towards increasing Halewood's annual production of electric power units by 70% to 420,000.

They will power Ford E-Transit Custom, E-Tourneo Custom, Transit Courier, Tourneo Courier, Puma and further future vehicles.

Ford said it will invest £125m directly at the Halewood plant while a further £24m will be used to support its new E:PRiME (Electrified Powertrain in Manufacturing Engineering) development centre in Dunton, Essex.

The business had previously announced a £230m investment to deliver 250,000 power units a year for electric vehicles from 2024 at the Halewood site.

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