On January 11, 2021, Ford announced the end of car production in Brazil.

The car manufacturer, which had already finished truck production in São Bernardo do Campo (SP) in 2019, announced that it will close the other factories in the country this year: Camaçari (BA), where it produces the EcoSport and Ka; Taubaté (SP), which produces engines; and Horizonte (CE), where Troller off-road vehicles are assembled.

About 5 thousand employees will be discharged, without however counting the impact on related activities (suppliers and subcontractors).

2020 was a very difficult year for the entire automotive industry, with a decrease of 31.6% in cars produced (2.01 million units). To get an idea of ​​the drama of the sector, just think that the installed production capacity in Brazil is about 5 million cars a year.

In this context, Ford has also lost market share and its production has gone from 196.3 thousand units in 2019 to 118.4 thousand in 2020, a decrease of 39.7%.

The decision comes after years of continuous losses and closes a cycle that began in 1919, the year in which Ford was the first company to open an automobile factory in Brazil.

According to Ford’s own estimates, the decision will have a financial impact of about 4.1 billion dollars, of which 2.5 billion directly on the company’s cash and another 1.6 billion in the form of accounting impact deriving from amortization, depreciation and abatement of tax credits.

Ford will continue to market its cars in Brazil, importing production from plants still active in Argentina, Uruguay and other countries, as announced.