Ford in Germany

08/14/96

Cologne, Germany, - Ford Motor Co plans to continue making its Fiesta and Escort models in Germany and has dropped plans to move production to Spain and England, local newspapers reported.

Management reached agreement with German labor representatives to work together to cut production costs, said the Koelner Rundschau and the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger.

The two newspapers quoted Albert Caspers, outgoing chariman of German unit Ford-Werke AG, as saying the company would stand by a 1994 agreement on securing investment in Germany.

Caspers said he was optimistic that costs could be cut to an acceptable level, particularly for energy, which costs much more in Germay than in most other European countries.

A European Union decision last month to increase competition in electricity markets will soon allow Ford to put out a tender to meet its energy needs.

About 1,500 jobs in Germany would have been affected by the plans to move.

Bill Maloney -- The Auto Channel