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Car manufacturer Ford is set to close their production sites in Dagenham and Southampton, bringing to an end a hundred years of Ford vehicle production in the UK. The shutting down is expected by the middle of next year and will cause the loss of 1400 jobs across the two sites. Ford is also expected to close its plant in Genk, Belgium in two years time.
The move means that all production of the Ford transit van will move to Turkey and, despite the UK being Ford’s biggest European car market, none of their vehicles will be manufactured in Britain.
Ford has closed down 16 sites in 14 years. The company said the decision to close the plants was taken against a backdrop of the severe and persistent economic crisis in Europe, which had seen demand for cars in Europe drop by 20% in the last five years. It predicted a loss for Ford Europe of more than £930m in 2012.
In a statement Ford said the Europe-wide review was necessary for the company’s future. The restructuring of the manufacturing operations is a plan to strengthen Ford’s business in Europe and to return to profitable growth.
Despite the closures some new posts will be created at the Dagenham engine plant, which will build Ford’s new Panther engine.
Oh thats a shame, more jobs going, still i can understand the uncertainty in Europe at the moment, but surely if the UK is the biggest market for the Transit van surely it would make sense to keep some of the production here?
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