Ford has announced that it is to invest up to £230m (US$315.7m) at its Halewood vehicle transmission facility in the UK, converting it to build power units for future Ford all-electric passenger and commercial vehicles sold in Europe.
Power unit production is expected to begin in Halewood in mid-2024, with capacity planned to be around 250,000 units a year. The company says that the investment – which is subject to and includes UK Government support through the Automotive Transformation Fund – will help safeguard jobs at Halewood.
“This is an important step, marking Ford’s first in-house investment in all-electric vehicle component manufacturing in Europe. It strengthens our ability to deliver 100% of Ford passenger vehicles in Europe being all-electric and two-thirds of our commercial vehicle sales being all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030,” said Stuart Rowley, president of Ford of Europe. “We also want to thank the UK Government for its support for this important investment at Halewood, which reconfirms Ford’s continuing commitment to the UK and our position as a leading investor in this country’s auto industry and technological base.”
