MADRID (AP) 鈥� Ford Motor Co. announced Friday that it will cut around 1,100 jobs at its plant in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.
The cuts are in addition to the that the automaker announced last month as part of a 鈥渓eaner, more competitive cost structure in Europe.鈥�
Ford Spain said in a statement that it notified unions on Friday of what it described as 鈥渁 profound restructuring of its operations." Ford has recently championed the Valencia plant as its preferred site to assemble 鈥渘ext-generation鈥� electric vehicles on the continent.
Jos茅 Luis Parra Navarro, a UGT union spokesman, said the workforce would become 鈥渟urplus鈥� when the plant switched to making electric cars because the work 鈥渞equires less labor.鈥�
The plant is Ford鈥檚 only such facility in Spain and currently employs 5,400 people.
The job cuts were 鈥渕ainly due to the already announced discontinuing production of the S-Max and Galaxy models in April 2023,鈥� Ford Spain said in an email.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based company has a strategy to offer an all-electric fleet in Europe by 2035 and says production of its first European-built electric car is expected to start later this year.
The job cuts come amid a sea change in the global auto industry from gas-guzzling combustion engines to electric vehicles. Governments are pushing to reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change, and a resulting race to develop electric vehicles has generated intense competition among automakers.
In January, Ford announced a new solar power plant had opened at the Valencia facility as it looks to become a carbon-neutral business.
Jennifer O'mahony, The Associated Press
