Ford announces multi-million pound investment at Bridgend
22 Apr 2013Ford has confirmed a £24 million investment programme at its high-tech Bridgend engine plant in Wales to produce a new fuel-efficient 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol engine.
The announcement includes Welsh government support of £12 million and will see employment at Ford Bridgend rise to 2,300 this year – the most in its 33-year history.
The Bridgend facility is one of the Ford’s UK locations benefiting from the company’s planned £1.5 billion investment announced in 2010. This long-term investment will directly support programmes linked to the research, development and manufacture of low carbon vehicle technology over a five-year period.
Welsh government Minister for Economy, Edwina Hart said, “The Welsh government has worked closely with Ford to secure this investment and is delighted to confirm a support package of £12 million towards this exciting programme. This will help safeguard and create high quality production and engineering jobs in Wales.”
Ford of Britain Managing Director, Mark Ovenden said, “The Welsh government has greatly assisted in maximising the full potential of Ford’s own investment in Bridgend and we are pleased to meet today with the Welsh First Minister and the Minister for Economy to recognise this successful partnership.”
Ford Bridgend produces 2,668 four-cylinder engines each day and exports to Spain, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Belgium and the US. This delivers an annual export value of £1.5 billion when combined with other Ford UK operations.
The Bridgend plant is the long term European production base for the new 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine. Production will start in 2014 and then ramp up over the following two years to ensure that Bridgend output is maintained at optimum capacity during this period. The new engine will be built alongside the 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, which was introduced in 2011.
During the last two years, UK automotive has welcomed more than £6 billion of investment from global automotive companies to support facility expansion, job creation, new model programmes and R&D projects. Click through to access the full list of recent investment announcements.
