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Ford May Need to Close Factory in Europe
Ford Motor Co. is under pressure to shutter at least one assembly plant in Europe, Bloomberg News reports, citing analysts.
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Ford Motor Co. is under pressure to shutter at least one assembly plant in Europe, Bloomberg News reports, citing analysts. Factories in Genk, Belgium, and Southampton, England, may be most vulnerable to closure, the news service says.
Ford, which won't comment, is using only 63% of its production capacity in Europe and is likely to post a pretax loss of more than $1.1 billion in the region this year, double the company's estimate, according to Morgan Stanley.
The Southampton plant built fewer than 30,000 chassis cabs for the Transit commercial van last year less than one-third of its capacity, according to IHS Automotive.
The Genk factory made 178,000 Mondeo cars and S-Max and Galaxy MPVs in 2011, or about 68% of its capacity. Ford has said it will begin producing the next-generation Mondeo at Genk next year and is required by its labor contract to continue building midsized models there through 2014.
Ford last closed a plant in Europe 10 years ago when it shuttered a small-car factory in Dagenheim, England.
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