Ford has reached an agreement with its workforces in Cologne and Saarlouis to secure vehicle assembly at those plants for the next five years.

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The Ford Fiesta and Fusion will continue to built at Cologne and the Focus at Saarlouis in return for wage rates moving closer to the national automotive industry ‘tariff’, said Ford in a statement. Currently Ford employees are paid above the national tariff.


Ford has also reaffirmed its policy of avoiding compulsory workforce redundancies.


The agreement affects all of the 24,000 Ford-Werke GmbH employees. There are 18,000 Ford-Werke GmbH employees in Cologne, including the Merkenich technical development centre and parts depot; a further 6,400 are in Saarlouis.

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