Ford could stop vehicle assembly in Saarlouis in 2025
- Eight years after the closure of the Opel plant in Bochum (the last assembly plant to have closed in Germany), the Ford group has announced that it may stop vehicle assembly in Saarlouis in 2025. Opened in 1966 to manufacture the American manufacturer's C segment sedans, first the Escort then the Focus and its C-Max and Grand C-Max minivan derivatives, the Saarlouis plant which had a capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year remained at this level until 2011, apart from a fall in 2009 and 2010 following the financial and economic crisis triggered in the fall of 2008. But this plant has experienced an uninterrupted fall since 2015, from 375,000 units in 2015 to 260,000 in 2019 and 115,000 in 2021. The reason for this collapse is the collapse of the Focus, to which was added the disappearance of the C-Max and Grand C-Max minivans.
- With the future going through the electric vehicle, Ford has decided to produce this type of car in two other factories, that of Cologne (Germany) and that of Valencia (Spain). Ford's first electric vehicle that will take over Volkswagen's MEB platform will be launched in 2023 and manufactured in Cologne. The manufacturer intends to launch seven new models of this type by 2025 and eventually sell 600,000 units, the production volume of which will be divided equally between Cologne and Valencia.
- Ford Europe's current range of passenger cars with thermal engines will therefore gradually disappear by 2028. First, the Ecosport, Mondeo and Galaxy/S-Max in 2022, then the Fiesta and Focus in 2024-2025 and finally the Puma and Kuga 2027-2028 SUVs. In 2021, Ford sold 525,000 passenger cars in Europe compared to 655,000 in 2020 and 965,000 in 2019.
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