Ford cuts Fiesta production at German plant on falling UK demand

FRANKFURT -- Ford has cut production of the Fiesta small hatchback at its plant in Cologne, Germany, in reaction to factors including a drop in U.K. sales. The model is the best-selling car in the U.K., Europe's second largest market.

Ford will reduce Fiesta production to four days a week, down from five, at the plant in a move that will affect 2,200 workers. The reduced output is expected to last until year-end, with a review in May, a Ford spokesman told Automotive News Europe.

"Southern Europe and the United Kingdom are seeing weaker demand [for the Fiesta], leading to the need to adjust production," the spokesman said.

Overall sales of new cars in the U.K. fell 7.3 percent in January as consumers held back from big purchases due to factors including ongoing economic uncertainty following Brexit.

The Cologne plant produces 1,150 Fiestas a day, with a third of that output going to the U.K.

Ford builds the Fiesta alongside the StreetScooter Work XL electric commercial van in Cologne, according to the Automotive News Europe Assembly Plant Map.