Around a year and a half after the Ford Group announced its withdrawal from car production in Saarlouis, Saar Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) remains optimistic about the search for investors.
“I am still confident that we will find a solution for the location with as many jobs as possible,” she told the German Press Agency in Saarbrücken. Discussions with an investor from the automotive industry are currently ongoing. “But it is important that there are other alternatives.”
“I feel no different than the Ford employees: Of course I would like to have the best solution very quickly.” But the government “unfortunately does not have all the strings in its own hands,” said the SPD politician. The property would only be available when Ford Motor stopped. “But the sooner we know, for the benefit of the employees, what can happen next, the better.”
Production of the Ford Focus at the Saarlouis site will end in mid-2025. The US car company announced the decision at the end of June 2022 that the plant in Valencia, Spain, would be awarded the contract for the new one Electric carplatform receives. This also marked the end of Focus production in Saarlouis.
As of January 1, 2024, the number of employees is said to have reduced from 4,500 to 3,850. A works agreement guarantees around 1,000 Ford employees a job until the end of 2032. So that means: 2,850 employees don’t know what’s going to happen next.
The location remains “highly attractive,” said Rehlinger. Firstly because of the location, but also because of the skills and motivation of the employees. It is still unclear whether a seamless transition will succeed. In any case, this is desirable.
At the beginning of October it was announced that negotiations with an interested party to take over the Ford location had initially failed. They resumed shortly afterwards. “A number of framework conditions also play a role – for example geopolitics – over which we as the Saarland state government only have limited influence,” said Rehlinger.
The recent cancellation of the state purchase bonus for electric cars does not affect the decision on a possible car manufacturer who might also want to produce electric cars. “I believe that in the end such a decision will not be able to jeopardize a major investment,” said the head of government. As a large automobile company, you have a different planning basis that is not based on a bonus of 4,000 euros.
SAARBRÜCKEN (dpa-AFX)
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