Ford has just confirmed that it will invest $300 million (£217 million/€249 million) to build a new light commercial vehicle in 2023 at its Craiova Assembly Plant in Romania. This includes an all-electric version due to debut in 2024, which will be the first all-electric Ford volume vehicle to be built in Romania.
Stuart Rowley, president Ford Europe, said: “Ford’s Craiova operations have a strong record of delivering world-class competitiveness and flexibility. Adding an all-electric version in 2024 means Craiova will be our third facility in Europe to build an all-electric vehicle.
“It follows recent investments this year in the Ford Cologne Electrified Vehicle Centre in Germany and Ford Otosan’s Kocaeli plant in Turkey and sends another clear signal that we are on an accelerated path to providing our commercial vehicle customers with a zero emissions future in Europe.”
In February, Ford committed that its entire commercial vehicle range will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, by 2024, with two-thirds of Ford’s commercial vehicle sales expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.
Ford’s overall investment in its Romanian manufacturing operations, including this investment, is close to $2 billion (£1.4 billion/€1.7 billion)since acquiring the Craiova facility in 2008.
Significant upgrades have been made to Craiova’s vehicle operations in recent years, with more than 600 robots installed to further improve efficiency and quality. Around 6,000 people are employed in its world-class vehicle and engine assembly operations.
Craiova’s commitment to electrification goes back to October 2019 with the start of Puma mild-hybrid production. This announcement marks another milestone as Ford is the first manufacturer to announce it will build an all-electric vehicle in Romania.
