Ford will produce 300,000 units per year of the new car in Almussafes, with production starting in 2027 | Economy

The Ford Almussafes plant (Valencia) will produce 300,000 units per year of the new global vehicle, which will be launched in mid-2027. This is a model that will not be all-electric, but “from a workload and occupancy point of view.” will guarantee a higher level than what an electric platform means today,” explained the UGT union, which constitutes the majority at the plant, after a meeting this Friday with the management of Ford of Europe.

UGT explained that the car that the Valencian plant will produce is “a global car (targeted for the world market), the production volume of which will reach 300,000 units per year.” This will be “a completely new car that will be launched in mid-2027,” the organization emphasized.

According to Ford European vice-president Kieran Cahill, quoted by the union, this is recognition of Valencia by the company “for all the commitments carried out in recent years, and also in response to the Electrification Agreement, which, despite the turnaround that has taken place in the automotive situation in relation to him, he continues to be the instrument that allows us to bet on the future of the Valencian plant.”

The new car will not be 100% electric, “but in terms of global workload and employment it will guarantee a higher level than what an electric platform means today,” the same union sources emphasize. “Ford is adapting its range of vehicles in Europe to meet customer needs. “We have added a new multi-energy passenger vehicle, which will be produced in Valencia, to our product plan for Europe,” the company added.

According to the president of the Almussafes Business Committee, Carlos Faubel of the UGT, “this does not solve everything, and now we will have to solve the issue of employment.” To this end, the union will be convened by local management next week, they say. This is “very good news,” the union leader said.

“Despite the difficulties that we still have to overcome, and taking into account the situation of uncertainty that we have experienced in recent months and which has become truly alarming, today we can say that we have very good news,” the union adds.

This Friday’s meeting will take place at a time when the Valencian factory is subject to a new document on temporary rules of employment (ERTE) until June 20, which will affect more than 2,000 workers within a few days. According to the majority union, the cessation of production of the Transit van (the Valencia plant now produces only one model, the Kuga) is compounded by engine supply problems and declining demand in the North American market.

On March 27, Ford global president Jim Farley pledged at a meeting in Dunton, England, to commission the Valencia plant to produce a multi-energy passenger vehicle that would represent a “sufficient” workload for the plant transferred to UGT.

A year of uncertainty

Ford Motor has changed the pace of plans to electrify its Spanish plant at the end of 2023 and left the production date of new models in doubt due to weakness in the electric vehicle market. In June 2022, the Valencia plant, in a dispute with the German plant in Saarlouis, was chosen to produce two new power generation models of the oval company. The initial idea, according to union sources, was that Almussafes would launch the first model at the end of 2025 and the second around 2026 or 2027. But the forecast has not come true for a long time.

Since then, the Valencian plant has faced several employment lawsuits over the gradual reduction of car production. Currently, the Spanish plant produces only the Kuga model.

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