Ford is reported to have called an emergency meeting with unions at its Genk, Belgium, assembly plant, fuelling fears that closure of the facility could be announced shortly.
Reuters quotes an official with the ABVV Metaal union as saying: “No one is allowed to tell us anything. We’re assuming it will be a very serious announcement.”
The plant currently employs 4,300 workers assembling the Mondeo, Galaxy and S-Max models.
Recent rumours have suggested Ford is prepared to wind down the Genk facility and assemble the new Mondeo model elsewhere. The company is reported to have originally intended to start assembly of the new Mondeo at Genk in April 2013, a date that was pushed back to around October to allow the company to work through various issues to ensure “a robust and high-quality launch.”
Ford’s current labour agreement guarantees production at the Genk plant of new mid-sized vehicles through the end of 2014.
Analysts have calculated that closing the Belgian factory could generate annual savings of US$730m.
Belgian unions have previously warned that the impact of Genk’s closure, due to the number and proximity of suppliers to the plant, could be much more severe than GM’s closure of its Antwerp site in the country.
Ford is now forecasting a loss in Europe this year of US$1bn and has spoken of the need to adjust output to demand. Its capacity utilization in the region has been at around 60% in recent months.
To date, Ford has relied on measures such as short-time working and reducing expenditure on contract agency workers and purchased services to help address current challenges in Europe and has also confirmed it is trimming its European salaried workforce by “several hundred” people through the use of voluntary buyout offers.
