FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it will reduce its workforce by 4,000 in Europe and the U.K. by the end of 2027, citing headwinds from the economy and pressure from increased competition and weaker than expected sales of electric cars.
Ford said Wednesday most of the job cuts would come in Germany and would be carried out in consultation with employee representatives.
Of the total, 2,900 jobs would be lost in Germany, 800 in Britain and 300 in other European Union countries. Ford has 28,000 employees in Europe, and 174,000 worldwide.
“The global auto industry continues to be in a period of significant disruption as it shifts to electrified mobility,” the company said in a statement. “The transformation is particularly intense in Europe where automakers face significant competitive and economic headwinds while also tackling a misalignment between CO2 regulations and consumer demand for electrified vehicles,” the statement said.
In Europe, automakers must sell enough electric vehicles to meet new, lower limits for fleet average carbon dioxide emissions in 2025, and face a longer term 2035 EU goal of reducing emissions to zero, which would mean the elimination of most vehicles with internal combustion engines.
EV sales however have lagged as consumers weary of inflation have held back on spending and after major car market Germany dropped government purchase incentives for EVs. Electric vehicles sales fell by 5.8% in the first nine months of the year in an overall shrinking market for cars. Carmakers are also facing increasing competition from Chinese-made electric vehicles.
The company said that it would also reduce working time for workers at its Cologne, Germany, plant where it makes the Capri and Explorer electric vehicles.
Ford sales fell 15.3% in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. The company's market share shrank to 3% from 3.5% The Dearborn, Michigan, headquartered automaker saw companywide net profit fall by 26% to $892 million in the third quarter as it took $1 billion in accounting charges to write down assets for a canceled three-row electric SUV. The company cited higher warranty and other costs.
Ford is an established brand in Europe and will mark its 100th anniversary of doing business in Germany next year. Its main plant in Cologne started production in 1931; the groundbreaking was attended by Henry Ford and then-Mayor Konrad Adenauer, later Germany’s chancellor.
Ford is not alone in suffering from headwinds. Volkswagen has said it is contemplating closing as many as three of its German plants, according to its chief employee representative. European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association has called for a speedier review of lower C02 limits slated for 2026.
Ford said company vice chairman and CFO John Lawler had written a letter to the German government reiterating Ford's commitment to climate goals but urging action to improve market conditions and ensuring the industry’s future success.
"What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility, such as public investments in charging infrastructure, meaningful incentives to help consumers make the shift to electrified vehicles, improving cost competitiveness for manufacturers, and greater flexibility in meeting CO2 compliance targets,” Lawler said.
FILE - The Ford logo is seen on the grill of a Ford Explorer on display at the Pittsburgh International Auto Show in Pittsburgh, on Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
