FORD GENK, LOTS TO DO
[IND: Genk, July 26] Union reaction
Ford has got a lot on its plate with three new models, the S Max Galaxy and Mondeo, and is finding it difficult to keep up. According to a comment from Ford Europe, in ‘Het laatste nieuws’, the orders from Ford dealers are putting on the pressure, says Jo Declercq, spokesman for Ford Belgium. If you order a new S Max or Galaxy, you have to wait till the beginning of next year for the delivery. We haven’t had such long waits for twenty years at Ford. Declercq says, it is a question of all hands on deck to keep up the production. In September, we are going to have an extra Saturday shift to make more cars. Two shifts a day are not enough. Ford has already sold 30,000 more cars in this period than in the same period last year. In 2006 235,000 cars rolled off the assembly line. The figure is already 265,000 for the year 2007. Since it was launched in mid 2006, 83,800 S Max models have been sold.
The Unions at Ford Genk see developments at Ford as positive, but note that it is bringing a lot of work pressure to the plant and they are waiting to see how the problem is going to be solved.
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