Ford will manufacture 300,000 units a year in Valencia of the new multi-energy car that the multinational will assign to the Almussafes factory. This is the progress made this Friday by the UGT-PV union after the meeting it held today with the management of Ford Europe and which ended a few minutes ago. According to the union, the majority in the Valencian plant, the vehicle will be “totally new” and will be launched in mid-2027.
They also clarify that "it will not be 100% electric", but the union does add that "in global terms of workload and employment it will guarantee levels higher than what an electric platform would mean today."
For its part, the Government has assessed the announcement “very positively” after the meeting. For the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, the new model prepares “the Valencian plant for the future and, with this award, the company recognizes “the work and competitiveness of the Valencia plant at a global level.”
Likewise, the Ministry has highlighted the "good relationship" of the Government with Ford, and has implied that it was already aware of the information advanced today. "The Ministry of Industry and Tourism will continue to be in contact with the company to continue working for the present and future of Almussafes in the Valencian Community," added the Executive.
For its part, the company insists that it is “adapting its vehicle range in Europe according to customer needs.” And although they reiterate that they have added a new multi-energy passenger vehicle to their product plan for Europe and that this will be manufactured in Valencia, as was announced a few weeks ago, they remember that their teams are now working on "obtaining full approval" of the program.
And while the multinational reserves details of the new project, the union explained that at the meeting, Ford's European vice president, Kieran Cahill, recognized the company in Valencia for the commitments made, including the Agreement for Electrification of which it was supporter the UGT-PV union. However, he is not entirely satisfied with the proposal known today. They point out that “it does not solve everything,” and that the issue of employment will have to be addressed. The union points out that next week there will be a new meeting with the local management of the Valencian plant.
Let us remember that the plant is currently in an ERTE process that will completely stop vehicle production on May 17, 20, 24, 27 and 31. That is why the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Nuria Montes, in addition to celebrating the news, has indicated that until this new production process, it will be necessary to act jointly with Ford management and with the representation of Workers. “We will be a third leg to enable this transitional period to be carried out with good training and development of the personnel, who will have to provide services for the new era of the Almussafes factory,” commented Montes.
