Ford is to invest up to £230 million at its Halewood vehicle transmission facility to transform it to build electric power units for its future all-electric passenger and commercial vehicles sold in Europe.
Power unit production in Halewood is expected to begin in mid-2024 and production capacity is planned to be about 250,000 units a year.
The investment is subject to and includes UK Government support through its Automotive Transformation Fund.
Halewood currently builds transmissions for a several Ford passenger and commercial vehicles and exports 100% of its production.
Before being taken back completely into Ford ownership earlier this year, Halewood had been part of Getrag Ford Transmissions, the transmission manufacturing joint venture co-owned by Ford and Magna, for more than 20 years.
Ford is one of the UK’s largest exporters, exporting engines and transmissions from its facilities to more than 15 countries on six continents, with overseas sales generating about £2.5 billion per year.
The company said the Halewood transmission facility was chosen to supply the power units given its excellent record on “quality, competitiveness and the strong skills base and commitment of the employees.”
Stuart Rowley, president, Ford of Europe said, “This is an important step, marking Ford’s first in-house investment in all-electric vehicle component manufacturing in Europe.
“It strengthens further our ability to deliver 100 percent 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.
“We also want to thank the U.K. 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.”
