Ford has completed the $2 billion transformation of its Cologne (Germany) production facility, which will focus on EV production. The Ford Cologne Electric Vehicle Center will start production with the new Explorer, with another electric crossover soon to follow.

Ford’s Cologne plant in Germany, which has been operating since 1930, building the Model A, has been given a large $2 billion investment to prepare it for an electric future. It has received a new production line, battery assembly plant, and new tooling and automation, which enables it to produce over 250 000 EVs per year.

Exit Fiesta, enter Explorer

The Ford Cologne Electric Vehicle Center has also become Ford’s first carbon-neutral assembly plant, with Ford aiming to achieve carbon neutrality for its European production by 2035. Up until now, the Cologne plant has produced the compact Fiesta, which will phase out by the end of the year.

In its place, the new electric Explorer will kick off EV production in Cologne, a mid-size crossover that is based on Volkswagen’s MEB platform. A second electric ‘sports crossover’ should soon follow, but no details on that model yet.

More EVs, fewer workers

This transformation toward EV production also has its repercussions, however. Ford has decided to cut thousands of jobs in Europe in favor of more automation and cost cutting, with the European Ford models like the Fiesta, Focus, S-Max, and Galaxy disappearing from the range in favor of more global SUVs. Over 2 000 of these lost jobs will come from Germany.