Ford, which employs 5,300 people in Britain, said the layoffs represented about 2.3pc of its workforce of 174,000.

The cuts will not affect its manufacturing sites in Dagenham and Halewood, nor its logistics base in Southampton, with the majority of the job losses expected to be administrative or product development roles.

Lisa Brankin, managing director of Ford of Britain and Ireland, told the BBC: “Making this announcement isn’t something that anybody wants to do, and I appreciate it will have a very significant impact on our employees.

“It’s not the news anyone wants to hear at any time. So our aim is to try to deliver this through voluntary redundancy.”

Ford said Europe’s carmakers faced “significant competitive and economic headwinds while also tackling a misalignment between CO2 regulations and consumer demand for electrified vehicles”.

John Lawler, its vice chairman and chief financial officer, said: “What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility.”

Rishi Sunak announced last year that he was delaying the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035, saying he would not impose “unacceptable costs” linked to reducing emissions on British families.

Ford was already undergoing a painful restructuring in Europe, announcing 3,800 job cuts in February 2023.

Ford is also closing its Saarlouis plant in Germany next year, with further job cuts.