The management of Ford Europe has awarded the Almussafes (Valencia) plant the manufacture of its two new electric models, beating the German company in Saarlouis with which it competed and thus resolving the future of the Valencian plant for the coming years.
This was confirmed this Wednesday by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, in a message on her Twitter account. “Excellent news! The award of the Ford electric vehicle platform in Almussafes means guaranteeing the capacity and employment of the plant in the long term”, she stressed.
Minutes before, when questioned in the Congress of Deputies, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, recalled that also in Valencia, specifically in Sagunto, the Volkswagen group will have a battery factory for electric cars. “I hope that today we also have good news,” said the president in reference to Ford’s decision, something that has subsequently been confirmed.
Ford Spain has communicated that at 1:00 p.m. it will give information regarding this decision, which in Almussafes is awaited with nervousness and at the same time with tranquility as it has a valid agreement for the future of the Valencian plant, since in May it was officially announced that the election would be announced at the end of June.
Thousands of jobs were up in the air
The Valencian factory has a workforce of 6,000 workers -1,000 of them work in engines-, and since the start of the pandemic it has chained one Temporary Employment Regulation File (ERTE) after another , the last one in force until next July 29.
It currently manufactures four models (Kuga, Transit, Galaxy and S-Max) but progressively, until 2024, it will stop producing the last three and will only keep the Kuga, which represents more than half of the total current production, according to forecasts. of workload. As for engines, it is currently developing the 2.0 and 2.3 liter Ecoboost and in the last quarter of this year it will launch the 2.5 liter Duratec engine, a hybrid engine that is fitted to the Kuga PEHV (plug-in hybrid ). In addition, it produces propellants for plants in North America.
The plant has a five-year salary contention agreement that was conditioned to being chosen for the electric platform of future vehicles and whose measures would come into force as of 2025.