Ford to close its British Bridgend plant
- Ford has confirmed the upcoming closure of its British engine plant in Bridgend, Wales. The site, which has been in operation for 40 years, will close at the beginning of 2020. Even if the context is impacted by the uncertainties related to Brexit, the manufacturer had already decided to reduce its exposure in Europe, and is experiencing a steady decline in activity at the Bridgend site. As sales of Ford vehicles have been falling steadily on the European continent over the past 20 years, the production of engines for Ford models has logically followed the same trend.
- While the Bridgend plant manufactured 420,000 engines in 2005, it manufactured only 265,000 in 2010, 240,000 in 2015 and 200,000 in 2018. The pace will slow further in 2019.
- Indeed, the production of a petrol engine for the Jaguar and Land Rover brands is due to stop at the end of 2018, as is the production of an older generation 1.5-litre Ford petrol engine.
- The Bridgend site was one of four Ford engine production plants still operating in Europe, along with those in Koln (Germany), Craiova (Romania) and Inonu (Turkey). The Koln site (Cologne) produces engines mainly for Fiesta and Focus, but also for models manufactured in Spain (Mondeo, Galaxy, S-Max, Kuga, Transit Connect), several of which will disappear in 2020. The Romanian plant produces engines mainly for Ecosport and the one located in Turkey for locally manufactured light commercial vehicles (Transit, Transit Courier, Transit Custom).
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