Ford to cut 4300 jobs in Belgium

U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. said it would end 4,300 jobs in Europe by 2015 as it closes the Genk Assembly Plant in Belgium to cut costs. The company predicts it will lose $1 billion in Europe in 2012 as the continent deals with a prolonged economic downturn that is very close to being declared a second recession. "We believe it is one of their highest costing plants," said industry analyst Itay Michaeli at Citi Investment Research, referring to the factory that produces Mondeo, S-MAX and Galaxy vehicles. Ford confirmed it would close the plant by the end of 2014. The Detroit News reported Wednesday that Ford lost $404 million in Europe April through June as sales have fallen with Europe's economy in a slump and several governments in crisis due to high debt burdens. In 2012, to date, automobile sales are down 7.7 percent on the year. Ford's sales in September were down 14.9 percent compared to September 2011, a steeper decline than the industry-wide decline of 11.6 percent.