Ford plans to cut up to 1,600 jobs at Valencia plant in Spain

MADRID (Reuters) -U.S. car maker Ford said on Wednesday it plans to cut a further up to 1,600 jobs at its assembly plant in Valencia, Spain, after announcing a reduction of 1,100 staff last year.

The company, which employs about 4,700 workers at the factory, told unions it plans to eliminate 600 jobs permanently, while it is open to negotiate the possible rehiring of the other 1,000 later as it plans to boost output at the plant from 2027, a Ford spokesperson in Spain said.

"A temporary solution could be negotiated for (the other) 1,000 to bridge the time until production of the new vehicle starts," she said.

Ford last month said it would start the production of a new hybrid passenger car at the factory located in Almussafes, in the Valencia region, from 2027 for the European market and elsewhere.

The company aims to produce 300,000 units of the new car annually, the country's Industry Ministry said at the time.

Ford now only assembles its Kuga compact sports utility vehicle at the plant after scrapping other models in recent years.

This is the second job cut plan announced by Ford in two years after the company unveiled a previous round of cuts at the factory in 2023.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Jan Harvey)