Ford Motor To Cut Down On Jobs In Europe: Will It Affect Ford’s UAE Business?

Ford Motor Company might be heading down the road of job cuts once again. After cutting down on around 3,000 jobs in August 2022, the American automotive giant now seems to be looking at trimming a further 3,000 positions.

Ford is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world and has produced some of the most iconic cars to have ever existed. The American brand created legends like the Mustang, Bronco, F150, Escort, Fiesta, etc, and the list goes on. However, business hasn’t exactly been great for Ford.

Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford Motor recently said that the brand missed out on nearly $2 Billion (AED 7.34 Billion) in profits in 2022. This has had an adverse effect on the brand and Ford is now looking to have cost cuts to the tune of $2.5 Billion (AED 9.18 Billion) in 2023. As a part of these cost-cutting measures, thousands of employees are going to be axed.

In addition, as Ford announced a week ago, bonuses for top executives including the CEO would be reduced. As aforementioned, Ford did already cut down on around 3,000 jobs in August 2022, however, that was mostly in the American market. Now though, Ford Motor’s European employees are about to face the inevitable.

Ford operates two assembly plants in Germany, one in Romania, and one in Spain. Apart from this, there are engine plants in Germany, Spain, Romania, and Turkey. In addition, there are two forging plants and one transmission plant in Germany. Safe to say then, that Germany will see a majority of Ford’s European job cuts.

Ford is one of the most popular brands in the UAE too with several of Ford’s cars being admired and much sought after in the country. The Ford Transit vans sold in the UAE are assembled either at the plant in Turkey or in Spain.

On the other hand, the 4-cylinder EcoBoost engines found under the bonnet of a long list of Ford cars sold in the UAE including the Escape, Explorer, Edge, Everest, Mustang, and Ranger, are all manufactured at the engine plant in Valencia, Spain. As a result, the job cuts might affect the production of these vehicles, and waiting periods might extend. However, this is only speculation at the moment.

Ford CEO Jim Farley doesn’t seem to think these job cuts would affect production efficiency. In an interview on SiriusXM radio, he was quoted as saying, “It takes us 25 percent more engineers to do the same work statements as our competitors. I can’t afford to be 25 percent less efficient.”

Clearly then, these job cuts are targeted at the engineers of Ford Motor and we believe, a drastic reduction in the number of engineers will inadvertently result in reduced productivity. In fact, many industry insiders believe Ford’s immense loss of revenue has come as a result of the brand diving head-first into electric cars which in turn has resulted in a change in buyer sentiment.

Ford also recently announced its return to Formula 1 through a partnership with Red Bull Racing. Ford will assist Red Bull in engine development apart from pouring significant amounts of money into the World Championship-winning team.

At a stage where thousands of employees are being laid off, millions of dollars being invested in motorsport surely won’t be seen as a good thing. However, motorsport is the perfect proving ground for Ford’s electric vehicle tech and Ford will see it as an R&D investment.

With all this in mind, if you are considering the purchase of a new Ford car in the UAE, now looks like a perfect time to go ahead with the purchase. If a new car isn’t really your thing, you can check out the list of used Ford cars in the UAE. Be it a Ford Mustang or a Ford Bronco, you are sure to find the right car for you at DubiCars.com.