Ford announced Tuesday that it will cut up to 1,000 jobs at its plant in Cologne, Germany, citing weaker-than-expected demand for electric vehicles in Europe.
From January 2026, the facility will operate only a single daily shift, making a portion of jobs subject to voluntary redundancy, the company said.
“Demand for electric vehicles in Europe remains significantly below sector forecasts,” Ford noted in its statement.
The latest cuts add to the 2,900 job reductions already announced in Germany as part of Ford’s broader cost-cutting program across Europe.
Earlier this year, workers staged strikes before reaching a deal in July, which union IG Metall said secured job guarantees for more than 10,000 employees at the Cologne site until 2032. The union has not yet commented on the new announcement.
Ford has invested $2 billion (2.3 billion euros) to convert the Cologne plant into an electric vehicle hub, positioning it as a key site for the company’s transition to low-emission production.
However, electric car sales in Europe have lagged behind expectations due to high purchase costs and limited charging infrastructure.
In the first half of 2025, battery-electric vehicles accounted for roughly 15 percent of new car sales across the continent.
