Ford Spain expects car sales to rise 10% to about 195,300 in 2005, boosted by strong demand for its just-redesigned stalwart Focus model and a growing car market in Spain.
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“2005 will be a record year if the second half goes well,” Ford Spain president Jose Manuel Machado told journalists in Madrid. He predicted that Spanish car sales will rise up to 5% this year from 1.5 million units in 2004.
Despite the rosy outlook, Ford’s biggest plant in Almussafes, Valencia, is forecast to pare production to 400,000 units, down from 449,000 in 2004. This is partly because the Focus has not reached full assembly levels yet and weekend shifts will not continue as last year, a Ford spokesman told just-auto.
However, “we have capacity to make 2,000 units per day and we could surpass last year’s production if demand rises significantly,” he added. Ford is now churning out 360 daily “but we hope to make 900 after April,” he added.
Meanwhile, Almussafes workers staged three 30-minute strikes at the plant last Friday to protest against poor working conditions.
A workers’ committee official said unions could launch new and “more severe” strikes next week if Ford does not add 100 new workers (from about 1,800 now) to the Focus line and act to relieve worker strain from heavier workloads.
The Ford spokesman would not comment about the union’s requests.
Ivan Castano
