Ford is reducing working hours at its German electric car manufacturing plant

US carmaker Ford is running a reduced production schedule in the western German city of Cologne due to weak demand for electric vehicles.

“Lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles, particularly in Germany, has necessitated the temporary adjustment of production at the Cologne Electric Vehicle Center,” said a Ford spokesperson.

The company will apply for temporary work, the government's furlough program, where workers are sent home by a company with financial problems, but they do not lose their jobs, and the government usually pays a percentage of their wages.

The request for part-time work at the Federal Employment Agency is due to the rapidly deteriorating market conditions for electric vehicles, a spokeswoman said.

Ford applied for a temporary job for a total of three weeks. At the Cologne plant, the Explorer and Capri electric models are produced.

“We produce more than we can sell,” local newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger quoted the company as saying in an internal newsletter.

Like the rest of the car industry, Ford is struggling due to weak sales in Germany and Europe. Consumers' reluctance to switch to electric vehicles and the end of government incentives in Germany are proving a challenge for automakers.

In the past few years in the Cologne area, Ford has already cut thousands of jobs. In 2018, the automaker had nearly 20,000 employees in the city; This summer, there were only about 13,000 left.