BRUSSELS: US carmaker Ford said on Wednesday it intends to close by the end of 2013 its Belgian operation in the northeast city of Genk which employs 4,300 people, trade union sources told Belga news agency.
Ford management informed trade unions of the plan at an extraordinary meeting with the works committee, it said.
Ford Genk is the main employer in the Flemish region of Limbourg near the Dutch border and, when taking into account subcontractors, provides work for some 10,500 people.
The Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy models will continue to be assembled at Genk until completion of the current cycle and then will be transferred to Valencia in Spain, Pierre Vrancken of the FGTB trade union said.
Because the Mondeo is assembled at the Genk plant, unions brushed off fears of a possible closure just a month ago when Ford announced the launch of production of the new Mondeo in October 2013.
Ford's Europe managers were due to meet later Tuesday with Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo and the head of the northern Flanders government Kris Peeters.
Fifteen years after the close of Renault Vilvorde, near Brussels and two years after that of Opel, the European arm of US giant General Motors, in the northern city of Antwerp, Genk's closure would mark a new low for a once important industry.
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