Ford Re-Affirms Its Commitment To Vehicle Manufacturing In Germany

Innovative Cost-saving Agreement promises Improved Competitiveness

COLOGNE, March 6, 2006: The management and central works council of Ford-Werke GmbH (Ford of Germany) have signed an agreement securing vehicle assembly in the Cologne and Saarlouis plants for the next five years.

Under the terms of the agreement, which affects all 24,000 Ford-Werke GmbH employees, the company has agreed that the Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion models will continue to be built in the Cologne plant and that production of the Ford Focus range also continues in Saarlouis.

Additionally Ford-Werke GmbH has re-affirmed its policy of avoiding compulsory workforce redundancies for the duration of the agreement.

The works council has in turn agreed that Ford-Werke GmbH employee wage rates will, over the period of the agreement, move closer to the national automotive industry 'tariff'. Currently Ford employees are paid rates higher than the tariff.

The Chairman of the managing board of Ford-Werke GmbH, Bernhard Mattes, praised the willingness of employee union representatives to work together with management during the negotiations. "This agreement demonstrates that despite the difficult business conditions prevailing in Germany, ways can be found to produce automobiles competitively in this country."

Dieter Hinkelmann, chairman of the central works council, characterised the agreement as an important contribution towards preserving Ford jobs both in Cologne and Saarlouis. "Above all, the exclusion of compulsory redundancies will provide staff, their families and the business communities in Cologne and Saarlouis with a degree of economic security for the next five years," he said.

There are 18,000 Ford-Werke GmbH employees in Cologne, including the Merkenich technical development centre and parts depot; a further 6,400 are in Saarlouis Cologne manufactured 407,000 Ford Fiestas and Fusions in 2005 (a record high); Saarlouis built 422,769 Ford Focus models in the same year Fiesta and Fusion are exported to 59 different countries – the Focus is exported to 80 territories