Dagenham dream: The project will create more than 300 jobs and the plant will turn out up to 500,000 low carbon two-litre diesel engines a year for cars and vans including the new Mondeo
Ford yesterday announced a £190m investment to build new engines at its plant in Essex.
The project will create more than 300 jobs and the Dagenham plant will turn out up to 500,000 low carbon two-litre diesel engines a year for cars and vans including the new Mondeo.
Half of Ford’s diesel engines globally are built at Dagenham. The extra investment, which includes £8.9m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund. Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed it as a ‘vote of confidence’ in the Government’s economic plan.
The announcement is the second phase of investment in the engine programme and takes the total amount of funding to more than £475m.
The first phase was for commercial vehicles around the world, while the latest phase is for passenger cars including the Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy. The engines have been designed and developed at Ford Dagenham and at the Ford Dunton Technical Centre in Essex.
The first engines come off the line towards the end of next year with production up to 350,000 per year – one engine produced every 30 seconds – and will be installed in Ford commercial vehicles from 2016.
The second phase is due to start in 2017, with the first engine sin Ford cars planned for 2018.
The added capacity of up to 150,000 units for this phase brings the total annual capacity for the all-new engine range to up to 500,000.
Cameron said: ‘I welcome Ford’s commitment to Dagenham and the UK, which is a vote of confidence in our long-term economic plan to back business, create more jobs and secure a brighter future for Britain.’
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