Ford to Cut ‘a Few Hundred’ as European Sales Fall

Ford Motor Co. (F) plans to cut “a few hundred” jobs in Europe because of falling sales in the region.

“Our goal is to adapt the production to the shrinking demand,” Ute Mundolf, a spokeswoman at Ford in Germany, said in a telephone interview.

Ford, the second-biggest U.S. automaker, expects to lose more than $1 billion in Europe this year while wanting to invest to increase its market share. Ford earlier this month announced new models that will be introduced over the next five years, including more sport-utility vehicles.

Ford’s car sales in the European Union plunged 12 percent in the period this year through August, according to data from ACEA, the European industry group. European car sales dropped 8.5 percent in August, the steepest decline since February, the Brussels-based ACEA said on Sept. 18.

Ford is conducting three job-cutting programs, in Germany, the U.K. and the rest of Europe, according to separate company e-mailed statement. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker is offering voluntary buyouts to salaried employees and reducing expenditures on “agency workers and purchased services,” the company said in the statement. The precise number of jobs cut won’t be known for “a few months,” according to the statement.

ACEA forecasts that European deliveries will hit a 17-year low in 2012. German car registrations fell 4.7 percent in August, pushing the eight-month sales figure to a 0.6 percent decline.

PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG) agreed last week to sell 75 percent of the Gefco trucking unit to OAO Russian Railways to reduce debt. Fiat SpA (F)’s volume brands are eliminating 20 percent of management jobs in Europe, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Ford declined 2.2 percent to $10.09 at the close in New York.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Wuestner in Berlin at cwuestner@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net