FORD

Automotive giant to reduce Focus production

Although the Ford Focus did not reach the sales levels of the Volkswagen Golf in Europe, it had several excellent years from a commercial point of view. Sadly, 2022 is not one of them, as demand from January to May plunged 28.3% to 27,151 units.

The German plant in Saarlouis, where the Focus is manufactured, is already overstaffed and, possibly, further production cuts may occur. German magazine Automobilwoche quotes the head of the company's works council, Markus Thal, as saying that work at the German factory will be significantly reduced after Aug.

Ford's investments are directed towards electrification. Thus, plants such as those in Cologne and Craiova, in Romania, will benefit, from which 100% electric cars will be shipped to European markets.

Automobilwoche informs that the future of the Saarlouis assembly plant will be decided before the end of this month. According to Ford's corporate website, this plant, founded in 1970, currently employs 6,190 people to assemble the Focus, including the high-performance ST version.

Long lead times caused by supply shortages greatly affected sales. For example, the SYNC 4 multimedia system comes out of Ukraine, now ravaged by war.

Since we mentioned the Golf at the outset, the Volkswagen compact, along with the Variant bodywork, has also seen better days. Figures in 2022 show that deliveries dropped 25.3% to 56,805 units. In fact, in Europe, the Dacia Sandero (62,271 license plates) and the Peugeot 208 (68,156) are already selling more.

In the same period, always in Europe, the Golf's Czech cousin, the Skoda Octavia, suffered a huge drop of 44.7%, to 33,024 cars, while the SEAT León did not even enter the top 50. Demand for the Audi A3 Sportback, from more premium configuration, it dropped less, specifically 11.9%, up to 35,350 vehicles.

It is shown that these are difficult times for all vehicles other than an SUV. Not even compacts can overcome this tide of crossovers and if they are still affected by the shortage of microchips, their future will be even more complicated.

Autonews