Ford To Sack 5,000 Workers In Germany

Ford says it plans to cut more than 5,000 jobs in Germany as part of a restructuring to increase profitability at European its operations.

The US car giant said it hopes to make most of the losses voluntary redundancies and early retirement.

A spokeswoman said: "The aim is to cut more than 5,000 jobs in the most socially responsible way possible," without detailing how the cuts would be divided among Ford's operations in Cologne, Aachen and Saarlouis.

The company warned earlier this year that jobs would have to go as part of a revamp of its loss-making European division. Ford employs about 53,000 people across Europe, 24,000 of them in Germany.

The overhaul comes at a time of widespread upheaval for global automakers as the industry moves to the greener, smarter cars of the future and polluting diesel cars fall out of favour.

The industry is also grappling with the knock-on effects of US-lade trade tensions, Brexit uncertainty, and economic slowdowns in the key European and Chinese markets. (AFP)