American company Ford Motor Co. stops car production in the UK.

The Southampton and Dagenham plants will close next summer. More than 1,000 people will be left without work. At the same time, Ford will retain two plants for the production of diesel and gasoline engines. Earlier, the automaker announced that by the end of 2014 it would close the plant in the Belgian city of Genk. Ford produced the first car in Britain in 1911.

Ford predicts that by the end of the year its losses in Europe will amount to $1.5 billion. In the Old World, which is experiencing debt difficulties, demand for new cars has fallen sharply. The company has adopted a new business restructuring plan. Reducing production in Belgium and Britain will save up to $500 million a year.

At the same time, the company is trying to modernize its business in the United States. Ford raised $23.5 billion in loans to speed up its restructuring plan. The automaker cut 30% of its workforce, reduced production capacity by 25% and won concessions from US labor unions, the Wall Street Journal recalls .

Let us remind you that the day before it became known that the French government intends to allocate €5-7 billion under financial guarantees for lending to PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest automaker in Europe. The company is also experiencing serious difficulties due to falling sales in France, Italy and Spain. Moody's downgraded Peugeot Citroën's credit rating by three points, from Ba2 to Ba3. The concern decided to cut 6,100 jobs in France and close a plant near Paris. The Socialist government is strongly opposed to such measures. In exchange for financial assistance, Peugeot Citroën will have to place a worker representative on its board of directors, as well as a government representative. The deal must be approved by the European Commission, which will check whether it complies with EU state aid rules for businesses. German state shareholders of the Volkswagen concern have already stated that they will oppose guarantees for Peugeot.

Ford stops making cars in Britain