2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36
The debt crisis in Europe inflicted a heavy loss on Ford in the second quarter. How the “serious situation” could be resolved is still open, according to the manufacturer's management.
Sharply declining sales in Europe weigh on Ford and could lead to severe cuts. In the second quarter, the US automaker had an operating loss of $ 404 million in its European business. In the same period last year, the company had earned $ 176 million here. Then the debt crisis hit and stopped many drivers from buying a new car.
Ford estimates losses of more than a billion dollars
For the full year Europe is likely to lose more than a billion dollars, Ford estimated on Wednesday. The situation was serious, it said. The industrial problems are of a structural nature. In plain language: there is overcapacity. Speculation had already arisen recently that Ford might close a plant. "It is too early to talk in detail about our plans, how we can react to the situation in Europe," said Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks.
Ford management is under great pressure. Because the problems in Europe are the same as with Opel- Parent company General Motors with full force on the whole group. The profit shrank by more than half to the bottom line still 1 billion dollars. Ford will tackle the problems, CEO Alan Mulally promised his shareholders. Only thanks to a flourishing US and Asia business, the decline in sales was limited by six percent to 33.3 billion dollars.
Because of the problems, the Ford works in Cologne applied for short-time work. In May and June the tapes stood still for seven days. The Fiesta small car is primarily manufactured in Cologne, while the compact Focus is manufactured in Saarlouis. An agreement applies to the two German Ford locations that excludes redundancies for operational reasons until 2017. Ford employs around 17,400 people in Cologne and 6400 in Saarlouis. (dpa)
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