Almussafes has been working for months to attract new investments to the municipality, in the midst of the transition to electricity and with uncertainty looming over Ford and its auxiliary industry. That is why the mayor, Toni González, has already met several times with representatives of investment firms to introduce them to the logistics spaces of the Juan Carlos I industrial park where the multinational Ford is located, according to this newspaper’s sources. The closure of various companies located in the municipality -Lear, SAAS and Rhenus Automotive will undertake ERE- “is very worrying” in the council, which is moving its agenda these days to avoid a major debacle, especially in terms of employment.
From the city council they explain that the companies with which they are working are not from the mobility sector or suppliers of components, but they are firms that could take advantage of the “synergies derived from electrification” in the future, a process for which the Ford’s Valencian plant was chosen as the multinational’s European platform. Let’s say that the council seeks to diversify its industrial offer and offers its industrial land to other companies.
As this newspaper has learned, the meetings have intensified in recent weeks, as confirmed by the mayor, Toni González, who last week was seen at two notable events in the sector. He was at Ford’s I Day, the meeting on innovation and research held in Valencia and also attended the business summit in Madrid in the company of the firm’s executives, since he maintains a “constant dialogue” with them, knowing that the decisions The entire mobility sector in the Valencian Community is awaiting the signature.
In Madrid, González was with Jesús Alonso, president of Ford Spain, and Fernando Acebron, director of institutional relations. The first, in his speech at the mobility table, highlighted both Ford’s roots in the Ribera Baixa -on January 1, Ford will reestablish its headquarters in Almussafes-, as well as its desire to look forward, as it asked for help to accelerate “This transformation process, he noted, “is important for the companies we are investing in that the new reality occurs as soon as possible.”
González takes up the gauntlet, as he reiterates that this is “a critical moment” that requires high-mindedness, planning and, above all, resources. “A very powerful aid plan agreed upon by companies is absolutely urgent,” says González. In this sense, he has held conversations with those responsible for the Valencian Administration to work side by side on the future of the sector.
He is even looking for accomplices in the university, as can be seen from the visit that the mayor of Almussafes made yesterday to the CMT facilities of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, a center with which they will collaborate to find solutions to the reconversion of the sector.
Almussafes’ active attitude towards the mobility sector is promoted by the situation in the sector. The closure of LEAR will mean that 159 people will leave the company, gradually, over the next year. The company that had been manufacturing seats for Ford for almost three decades will permanently cease its production activity due to the end of production of the Ford Transit Connect van and due to “the uncertainty” of new models.
Also in the center in charge of logistics supply in Almussafes of the Rhenus Automotive company, an employment regulation file will be applied. It will affect about 120 employees who have already met with the council, denouncing that the automobile company seeks to reduce its production costs by collaborating with other companies. And to this is added that another auxiliary, SAAS, will also close in March 2024.