Ford to cut jobs to save $200m in Europe

Jim Farley, head of the carmaker’s European business talked in an interview that, Ford Europe purposes to lower headcount through voluntary redundancies, such as by offering staff severance pay, early retirement and other options.

Ford is following up on a restructuring program under which it closed three European factories and cut thousands of jobs.

Last week, the company posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations but warned that profit margins from its North American business in 2016 may not equal the 10.2 percent achieved in 2015.

The latest strategy involves a voluntary separation program, potentially saving another $200 million annually.

The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth and compelling growth in net income.

“Our job is to make our vehicles as efficiently as possible, spending every dollar in a way that serves customers’ needs and desires, and creating a truly sustainable, customer-focused business”.

The company turned a full-year profit of $259 million in Europe in 2015, the first time since 2011, helped by a 10 percent gain in vehicle sales.

The move is expected to see hundreds of jobs go in the United Kingdom and Germany, where the bulk of its European workforce is based, largely impacting sales, administration and marketing roles.

Ford employs 53,000 staff in Europe, with about 13,000 in the UK.

Although the auto maker no longer manufactures vehicles in Britain, it still has 14,000 workers on its payroll in the country.

But he added the group is “taking the necessary actions to create a vibrant business that’s solidly profitable in both good times and down cycles”.

It has not revealed which models are being axed under the overhaul.

Ford has already shut three vehicle plants in western Europe in 2013 and reached cost-saving agreement with unions in Germany and said that it was continuing to “enhance its cost efficiency and manufacturing capacity utilisation”.

But the profits in Europe endured small and fragile.