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Saarbrücken (dpa / lrs) – The Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) will fly next week together with her deputy, Economics Minister Jürgen Barke (SPD), to Ford in Dearborn (Detroit) in the USA. She announced this on Thursday evening in SZ and SR’s “Saartalk”. In close coordination with the employee representatives in Saarlouis, they want to emphasize the importance of the Saarlouis location for the country and the company and talk regarding future prospects for the Saarland plant.
“All state governments have always stood by this location. Now it would certainly be good if the Ford decision-makers also stood by the location,” said Rehlinger. She was convinced that “very intensive” talks would be held. In doing so, she wanted to “point out the advantages of the location once more and, like the employees, fight to ensure that there are prospects for Saarlouis”.
It is true that the rules of the game are the same for all locations, but there are also a few points that can be discussed. When it comes to further training and qualification, the federal government “still has a few points in its quiver”.
Rehlinger: “We want to be successful. And we will not set off without arguments, not without new and additional arguments.”
A week following taking office, the new prime minister offered to fly to the United States for a meeting in a letter to CEO Jim Farley and Europe boss Stuart Rowley on May 3. The Ford management accepted this offer. Rehlinger and Barke are expected at Ford headquarters on Wednesday (May 18) at 5 p.m. local time.
With 5,000 employees, Ford is one of the largest employers in Saarland. But the future following the Focus model is phased out is uncertain. Rehlinger said to journalists last week that she was expecting a decision in June as to whether production in Saarland would continue beyond 2025. In the production of a future electric car, Saarlouis is in competition with Ford in Valencia, Spain. Rehlinger had said she hoped that Ford would “finally end the undignified competition that exists between European locations.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220512-99-265740/1
Source: DPA
