HAMBURG (Reuters) – Ford has found what it described as a major international investor for the U.S. carmaker’s German plant in Saarlouis and has signed initial agreements together with the western state of Saarland, it said at a works meeting at the plant on Friday.
“This is an excellent basis for further negotiations, with the potential to create around 2,500 jobs in Saarlouis,” said Martin Sander, head of the company’s German unit Ford Werke.
“This week we have taken a big step towards this goal,” he said, adding that the aim was still to transform the plant and create future employment opportunities.
A Ford spokesperson did not name the investor but said only that it is a major international investor.
The Wall Street Journal reported in late January that China’s BYD was one of 15 investors interested in taking over the Ford site in Saarlouis after it stops producing its current model, the Ford Focus, from 2025.
(Reporting by Jan Schwartz, Writing by Miranda Murray; editing by Matthias Williams)