Ford Dismisses Report On Europe Cuts, Says Mondeo Will Live On

Ford has denied a recent report talking about cutting up to 24.000 jobs in Europe and axing models like the Mondeo.

The said report comes from The Sunday Times and is based on estimations from Morgan Stanley analysts. According to the analysis, Ford would have to cut 12 percent of its 202,000 workers, mainly from its European operations as part of a major revamp.

Ford is indeed planning a restructure of its operations in Europe, where it lost $73 million between April and June. The report went on saying that the company will axe the Mondeo, Galaxy and S-Max models, replacing them with more profitable crossovers.

Ford dismissed the report and issued a statement: “We currently have our strongest-ever vehicle range in Europe. While we regularly evaluate our future product plans based on customer preferences and trends, there are no changes at this time. Mondeo remains a core part of our product line-up in Europe. We have upgrades coming for Mondeo later this year, which will see new powertrains as well as exterior and interior updates as well as enhancements to the Mondeo Hybrid range.”

“The number of job losses quoted by a number of media is pure speculation and we would not comment on that. As we said in our second quarter earnings in July, our Europe business requires a major redesign to deliver our longer-term target of 6% EBIT margin.”

The carmaker also denied that it’s considering axing the Galaxy and S-Max MPV models. Ford is manufacturing the Mondeo and the two MPVs at its Valencia plant in Spain, alongside the Kuga and Connect models.