To be completed next July Newly established after 120 years Ford Engine Company -not even the sole owner yet of Henry Ford- first sold vehicle. From that critical moment, that small factory that was born on Mack Avenue in Detroit, USA has grown into a manufacturing empire spanning five continents. Now its new horizon points to 2030.
In that year, as the company has repeatedly stated, all passenger car sales in Europe It will be 100% electrican ambitious target where oval company spares no expense. Until 2026, without going further, Invest at least $50,000 million with the goal of producing up to two million electric cars by the end of that year. And its momentum will not stop in the following years.
Not in vain, this is the 2030 goal the ultimate goal of a process necessary to compete in a market heading towards the end fossil fuels and where the multinational has recently placed one of its main supports at the Valencian Almussafes factory. And this is despite the fact that uncertainty was the only reality for the factory until two months ago.
Before last June 22, the day Ford finally announced that its factory in Ribera Baixa has been imposed on the factory in Saarlouis (Germany), and its viability will be guaranteed for at least ten years thanks to the “acquisition” of an innovative structure for electric vehicle production. , information on the multinational project implied that only the Valencia plant would get two electric models if selected.
But for this, the bet of the brand led by Jim Farley factory of nearly 6,000 workers changed everything. The proprietary GE2 platform and an evolution of the GE1, for which the firm is now producing the Mustang Mach-e (an electric model with a forerunner of the future), opened the door for Ford to ship more than two all-electric deliveries to Valencia. models. This question is still unresolved to this day. Nor in what volume or when the first units of these will be produced, which, yes, will be large. Nonetheless, this move of trust and viability served to confirm that the Almussafes factory would play an important role in Europe.
different possibilities
The platform that will come to Almussafes offers different possibilities than the company’s other factories in Europe. A model of the b-segment – smaller than, for example, Kuga de Almussafes, whose sales have been increasing – than the Valencia plant will produce – or what is in Puma’s hometown of Craiova (Romania) – in recent months.
In this scenario, Ford’s decision to abandon Perte, which was encouraged by the Spanish Government to promote the electric vehicle with Next-Generation funds – an initiative that gave the firm and allied companies in the tractor project €106m – to those unable to meet, the mandatory deadlines may at first seem like a symptom of a lack of corporate will. . However, the truth seems to point to something very different.
stronger bet
Because after this change in deadlines – which still leaves the question of what will happen if the electric vehicle doesn’t arrive before 2026, the current Kuga is expected to cease production, the only model at the plant that will survive after 2024. – A stronger commitment to the facility will be concealed.
As announced this Thursday by Levante-EMV, a newspaper belonging to the Prensa Ibérica group, like this one, the shift in time will – according to the company’s current estimates – lead to Almussafes becoming a factory at the forefront of the high-production industry. – Put an end to pure electric vehicles to compete with the industry’s leading giant Tesla. In this scenario, the arrival of the second generation Mustang Mach-e – still hypothetically – would fit perfectly, but it will be necessary to know which models will accompany it.
Of course, focusing on this route requires a greater investment of economic and time, which is the way both Ford and Valencian institutions send messages of peace. For now – in the words of the multinational – new “additional financing opportunities” To meet its 2030 electric target, it is clear that the oval brand will do the rest within this decade.
Electrification, a path with fewer personnel yet to be outlined
The transition to electric power will inevitably be accompanied by a recalibration of the workforce at Almussafes; this is a well-known fact among those responsible for factory workers, and whose real impact is not yet known or outlined. Meanwhile, Ford announced this week that it will lay off 3,000 of its employees from the US, Canada and India, the layoffs being made as part of this cost reduction on the path to electrification.
Source: Informacion
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