Hundreds of jobs secured as Ford commits to £125m investment
Ford has announced major plans to boost its production of components for electric cars in a move that will safeguard 500 jobs on Merseyside.
Building on its drive to grow an all-electric vehicle range, Ford has invested a further £125m in its Halewood Plant, increasing capacity by 70% as well as a £24m investment in the supporting E:PRiME product development centre.
The latest cash injection, supported by the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund, in the Halewood plant brings the US car giant’s spending there to £380m.
The news comes after Ford announced a £230m investment to deliver 250,000 power units a year for electric vehicles from 2024 at the Halewood site.
Kieran Cahill, Ford’s European industrial operations vice-president, said: “Ford is a global American brand, woven into the fabric of Europe for more than 100 years and a major employer here at Halewood for almost 60 years.
“Our vision in Europe is to build a thriving business, by extending leadership in commercial vehicles and through the electrification of our car range. Halewood is playing a critical part as our first in-house investment in EV component manufacturing in Europe.”
Tim Slatter, chairman of Ford UK, said: “This is an all-important next step for Ford towards having nine EVs on sale within two years. Our UK workforce is playing a major role in Ford’s all-electric future, demonstrated by Halewood’s pivot to a new zero-emission powertrain, and E:PRiME’s innovation at Dunton in finalising the production processes.”
