Ford has announced it will be cutting 800 jobs in the UK over the next three years in reaction to concerns for ‘the health’ of its passenger car business in Europe.

These cuts come as part of a wider restructuring across Europe with around 4,000 roles to go in total by 2027.

The UK and Germany have been the hardest hit but are expected to mainly be administrative or product development roles.

It said its production in Dagenham and Halewood would not be affected, along with its Southampton logistics centre.

The aim is to ‘create a more cost-competitive structure and ensure the long-term sustainability’ of its business in Europe, Ford said.

It blamed ‘lower than expected’ demand for its new electric vehicles. As such, it will ‘adjust’ the production programme for its Explorer and new Capri models, resulting in ‘short-time working days’ at its Cologne plant in the first quarter of 2025.

Dave Johnston, Ford’s European vice president for transformation and partnerships, said: ‘We are proud of our new product portfolio for Europe and committed to building a thriving business in Europe for generations to come.

‘It is critical to take difficult but decisive action to ensure Ford’s future competitiveness in Europe.’

The BBC reports, Lisa Brankin, managing director of Ford of Britain commented: ‘Making this announcement isn’t something that anybody wants to do, and I appreciate it will have a very significant impact on our employees.

‘It’s not the news anyone wants to hear at any time. So our aim is to try to deliver this through voluntary redundancy.’