Photo: screenshot from Youtube
Even though the Fiesta and Focus are very successful, Ford may still have too many of the wrong kind of cars, which are not in demand. A good example of this is the B-Max, the company's smallest MPV that entered production at their Romanian factory in 2012 after a relatively long delay.
Because the B-Max is roughly the same size and cost as small crossovers like the Renault Captur, demand has never met the anticipated levels. As such, Ford has had to reduce output at the factory in Craiova that they bough from the Romanian government in 2008 (it used to belong to Daewoo).
In November 2014, the company announced that for economic reasons, 680 work positions in Craiova would have to be cut. Over 590 employees entered a voluntary restructuring program, which left Ford with 170 positions still needing to be cleared. But rather than simply firing people an agreement has been reached with the units under which working hours would be reduced.
A statement released to the press today suggests the move will optimize the production schedule at Ford Craiova while they search for the opportunity to locally assembly a second Ford model.
In 2007, Ford paid 57 million suros to the Romanian government for a 72.4% stake in "Automobile Craiova". Soon after that, the European Commission opened an official investigation regarding an allegedly illegal state aid offered to the American company, worth 27.5 million euros.
According to the latest figures, the factory has the capacity to make 350,000 cars per year. However, only 30,600 were produced in 2012. Besides the B-Max and the Transit Connect van, the same facility makes the 1-liter EcoBoost engine and the newer 1.5-liter 4-cylinder EcoBoost which went into the Mondeo and Focus facelift.
In November 2014, the company announced that for economic reasons, 680 work positions in Craiova would have to be cut. Over 590 employees entered a voluntary restructuring program, which left Ford with 170 positions still needing to be cleared. But rather than simply firing people an agreement has been reached with the units under which working hours would be reduced.
A statement released to the press today suggests the move will optimize the production schedule at Ford Craiova while they search for the opportunity to locally assembly a second Ford model.
In 2007, Ford paid 57 million suros to the Romanian government for a 72.4% stake in "Automobile Craiova". Soon after that, the European Commission opened an official investigation regarding an allegedly illegal state aid offered to the American company, worth 27.5 million euros.
According to the latest figures, the factory has the capacity to make 350,000 cars per year. However, only 30,600 were produced in 2012. Besides the B-Max and the Transit Connect van, the same facility makes the 1-liter EcoBoost engine and the newer 1.5-liter 4-cylinder EcoBoost which went into the Mondeo and Focus facelift.
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