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Ford is in talks with BYD about the sale of a manufacturing plant in Germany, according to people familiar with the matter, according to the Financial Associated Press on January 24. Ford executives in Germany plan to travel to China next week to discuss the possibility of selling the Sal Louis plant in Germany, although the terms of the deal, including price, are unknown, according to reports. As of press time, BYD has not responded to the above news.

BYD is one of about 15 potential investors who are assessing the interest of Ford, which is still at an early stage in the talks, the person familiar with the matter said. A Ford spokesman said the company was investigating options for future use at the Saarlouis plant in Germany, and Ford continued to negotiate with a large number of potential buyers.

At present, the Sal Luis plant in Germany mainly produces the best-selling Focus compact model in Europe, which is scheduled to stop production in 2025. In 2017, the Sal Louis plant in Germany received 600m investment to prepare for the production of Ford's Focus compact model, but then Ford moved closer to other lower-cost European production bases, and production at the plant began to decline, especially as it entered 2022. Production at the plant has been hit harder by rising costs in the raw material supply chain and falling demand for compact hatchbacks. When Ford said in June 2022 that it would stop production at its Sal Louis plant in Germany after 2025, Stuart Rowley, Ford's European chairman, said: "Ford will look for new possibilities for the Sal Louis plant and may sell it to other carmakers in the future."

According to related reports, BYD is more likely to take over the factory. Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD Group, has revealed that Europe is the first stop for BYD to enter the international market. In October 2022, German car rental company SIXT signed a cooperation agreement with BYD that SIXT will purchase at least 100000 new energy vehicles from BYD in the next six years. In December 2022, Li Ke, executive vice president of BYD, said: "BYD's plan to build an electric car factory in Europe is under due diligence." However, so far, there will be a lot of uncertainty about whether BYD will take over Ford's German plant, and BYD officials have not responded to the news.

According to foreign media reports, Ford plans to cut about 3200 jobs in Europe, including as many as 2500 product development jobs and 700 executive positions, with Germany being the most affected. The layoffs will eliminate about 65 per cent of the carmaker's jobs in Europe, while Ford will also transfer some product development work to the United States. Ford declined to comment on the news.

According to the report, layoffs are part of Ford's efforts to reduce costs in the process of electrification. In fact, this is not the first time Ford has laid off staff to accelerate the transition to electrification. In March 2022, Ford announced that it would split its car manufacturing business into two businesses: traditional fuel vehicles and electric vehicles, with the traditional fuel vehicle business named "Ford Ford Blue" and the electric vehicle business named "Ford Model e". The two major businesses are led by different executive teams and financial statements are also separated. In April, Ford cut 580 salaried and agency jobs in the United States as a result of the restructuring of its two major businesses. On Aug. 22 of the same year, Ford Motor Company announced that it would cut 3000 jobs, including 2000 full-time employees and 1000 contract workers. the layoffs involved the United States, Canada and India. Ford spokesman Reid said at the time that the company would continue to change as the industry changed, or that more jobs would be lost. It is common for companies to keep adding staff where needed and laying off staff where demand decreases.

At present, Ford is accelerating the transformation of pure electric vehicles in Europe. In March 2022, Ford announced that it would launch seven all-electric vehicles in Europe in 2024, covering three new all-electric passenger cars and four electric vans. By 2026, Ford will sell more than 600000 electric vehicles a year in Europe, and by 2030, half of Ford's global sales will be electric cars.

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