Ford, Opel Subsidiaries to Up Production in Spain

MADRID – Ford of Spain increases production at its Almussafes plant, while Opel Spain plans to step up assemblies at its Figueruelas plant.

Ford will raise daily output by 110 units, from 1,810 to 1,920, in the last week of August, union sources tell WardsAuto. The Kuga compact SUV will account for most of the production, while Transit vans will be built in lower quantities.

To meet the higher build rate, which will be maintained at least until year-end, Ford will hire 160 new workers for the three shifts running at Almussafes. The automaker last week renewed the contracts of 260 temporary workers hired in 2015.

The plans to raise production at Almussafes follows a cutback announced in early April and implemented during the second half. Daily output was reduced from 1,890 units to 1,805, forced by falling sales of models such as the Galaxy, S-Max and Mondeo sold primarily in other European countries.

Opel Spain also plans to increase production at its Figueruelas plant at the end of next August, hiring “several hundreds” of new workers and likely adding Saturday shifts. The plant now builds 1,760 vehicles daily.

The automaker, recently purchased from General Motors by France’s PSA Group, will add the Citroen C3 Aircross to a production mix consisting of the Corsa, Mokka X and Crossland X.

Figueruelas’ 2017 production could reach 400,000 units.

Matias Carnero, president of the SEAT works council representing hourly workers at Volkswagen’s Spanish subsidiary, said in December that the automaker also will increase production and employment during second-half 2017, but SEAT so far has made no such announcement.

After receiving European Commission approval for the acquisition of Opel and its U.K.-based Vauxhall brand, PSA names Jonathan Akeroyd as commercial general manager of Opel Spain. He succeeds Enrico de Lorenzi, who has been appointed general manager of Opel for Southeast Europe. Both appointments take effect Aug. 1.

Akeroyd, who joined GM in 1990, has been in charge of sales management for Opel Spain since 2010. De Lorenzi joined Opel Spain that year and now is tasked with enhancing the Opel brand