Ford will cut 4,000 jobs in Europe by 2025 as it shifts to electric vehicles, including 2,300 in Germany in Cologne and Aachen, the company told a conference call Tuesday, Feb. 14, DW reported.

The measures announced today are aimed at shifting production and administrative units in Europe to a smaller, more focused portfolio that is increasingly focused on electric vehicle production, Ford Germany head Martin Sander said.

Ford plants in Germany employ a total of 19,000 people. The automaker plans to cut 1700 employees of the development department and 600 administrative employees. Including the layoffs in Great Britain and other countries in Europe, a total of 3,800 jobs will be eliminated. The automaker's decision was preceded by several weeks of negotiations with labor unions.

Ford missed its profit targets last year and now intends to make radical changes. Ford's chief financial officer, John Lawley, promised "very aggressive" measures to reduce costs in manufacturing and supply chains.

Ford's losses in Europe on the pre-paid portion of sales tax in the last quarter of 2022 doubled year over year to $400 million. At the same time, the volume of turnover remained the same.

Experts see the cuts in the research and development division as one of the consequences of Ford's collaboration with Volkswagen, from which Ford has a license to produce electric cars based on the MEB platform. This allows Ford to save money on research.