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Summary 9,500 jobs will be hit as Ford Motor Co announces it planned to close its car plant in Belgium.
It is one of its main European factories by the end of 2014, a move that would result in 4,500 direct job losses and 5,000 more among subcontractors.Exactly half a century after construction on the Genk plant started, Ford told a management council there that production was winding down since slumping European sales has forced a restructuring of its plants.This is taking us by surprise and is an extremely bitter pill, Christian Democrat union representative Johan Lamers told The Associated Press.Ford has been under pressure in Europe due to the regions dwindling demand for its models and the overall slide of car sales on the continent due to the debt crisis.The company expects to lose more than $1 billion this year in Europe, where it gets a quarter of its sales. Analysts say Ford has more factory capacity than it needs.Even though the Ford plans still need to go through a social consultation phase with unions to see if alternatives are available, regional authorities in northern Belgiums Flanders are already looking how to recover money from the €57 million ($74.13 million) it committed in 2010 to keep Ford rooted there for years to come.It is incomprehensible and a nightmare for those people, said Flanders minister president Kris Peeters.In October 2010, we negotiated and signed a deal worth many millions. And now they said OK, lets close Genk, Peeters said.Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said the national government would also do its utmost to salvage something for the thousands of workers.
