Ford plant in Germany might cut 700 engine-making jobs

Ford Motor's plant in Cologne, Germany might have to cut 700 out of the nearly 1,000 jobs working at the engine production plant if it is not awarded the contract to make three-cylinder engines, a company spokesman said.

He said the 700 will be transferred to other jobs elsewhere at the plant because the union has an agreement with management that there will be no mandatory layoffs until 2011.

The facility currently produces six-cylinder engines but will be stopped "in the foreseeable future". He declined to give a timeframe.

Discussions are going on whether the production of three-cylinders would be made at the Cologne plant or in Craiova, Romania, or split between the two sites.

He rejected German media reports that the Cologne plant is on the brink of being shut down.

The Cologne plant employs 17,300 people, of which almost 1,000 are in the engine production facility. The engine facility currently makes around 100,000 engines annually, mainly for the U.S. market.