Ford Motor Co. will pay approximately 4,000 hourly workers at its Genk, Belgium, assembly plant a total of $750 million in separation benefits, the Dearborn automaker disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday.
Ford will now be able to close the facility by the end of next year as it looks to cut excess capacity to meet dwindling demand in economically challenged Europe.
The 4,000 employees will receive about $187,500 each. Ford also began negotiating with about 300 salaried workers.
Ford will treat separation-related costs as special items and will exclude the payments from total company pre-tax profit.
In Europe, Ford expects to lose about $2 billion this year. Ford lost nearly $1.75 billion in Europe throughout 2012, which prompted it to announce the closings of three European plants, including Genk, in an attempt to shed nearly 20 percent of its production capacity.
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