Ford Genk is the leading employer in the north-east Flemish region of Limbourg near the Dutch border. Staff raged or wept as news of the imminent closure came at an extraordinary works committee meeting on Wednesday.
"It's a nightmare, a catastrophe for Genk and for the region," said town mayor Wim Dries as TV and radio networks headlined it "a bitter pill" and "sharp blow" for Belgium and for Limbourg, where Ford provided work for some 10,000 people in the broader economy.
"We feel betrayed, we had a contract, a work contract till 2020 and now everything's over," said plant employee Jean-Francois Muto.
Ford Europe said in a statement issued in Frankfurt that the planned closure by the end of 2014 was part of an overall shake-up of its European operations in the face of falling demand, currently at a 20-year low.
The plan will "help to address manufacturing over-capacity stemming from a more-than-20% drop in total industry vehicle demand in western Europe since 2007," Ford explained.
Saying he was "stunned", Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo called for efforts "to find new economic activities for the region".
Ford said the assembly of its Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy models would be transferred from Genk to Valencia in Spain.
Because the current Mondeo was assembled in Genk, trade unions had thought the plant had won a respite of several years when Ford last month announced the launch of production of the new Mondeo planned for October next year.
Ford's Europe managers met Di Rupo and the head of the northern Flanders government Kris Peeters.
Peeters said the loss of thousands of jobs in the once thriving coal mining Limbourg area was "a tragedy".
Genk's closure marks a new low for a once hugely important industry in Belgium and follows the decision by Opel, the European arm of US giant General Motors, to close its plant in the northern city of Antwerp two years ago.
The Flemish business leader's association, Volka, called on the government to reduce the price of labour to make the country competitive again. "To compete with foreign companies, labour costs must be drastically cut," said Volka official Jo Libeer.
"We understand the impact this action would have on our workforce in Genk, their families, our suppliers and the local communities," Ford Europe's chief executive Stephen Odell said.
"We fully recognise and accept our social responsibilities in this difficult situation and, if the restructuring plan is confirmed, we will ensure that we put in place measures and support to lessen the impact for all employees affected," he said.
Pending further study, Ford may decide to move production of the C-MAX and Grand C-MAX compact multi-purpose vehicles from Valencia to Saarlouis, Germany in 2014, where the car industry is faring better than in Belgium or France.
Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge
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