London | The American carmaker Ford will invest 230 million pounds in one of its factories in the United Kingdom to manufacture components there to electrify its vehicles.
The Halewood plant in the north of England, which received a contribution from the UK Government’s Automotive Transformation Fund, will be ‘transformed’ to build a unit of components for future Ford electric vehicles in Europe, with a start production expected in 2024, according to the PA agency.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, in a statement on Monday hailed an “investment which is great news for Halewood’s highly skilled workforce as it secures the future of the plant.”
Unite adds that 500 jobs will be maintained at Halewood thanks to these injections of funds with a “prospect of 400 to 700 job creations”.
Ford announced at the end of September an acceleration of its electric transition by announcing the creation of four factories in the United States with its South Korean partner SK innovation, representing an investment of 11.4 billion dollars with 11,000 jobs at stake. horizon 2025.
Ford has in the process revised upwards its electric fleet targets as it now expects 40 to 50% of its global sales volumes to be fully electric by 2030.
In the UK, sales of new gasoline or diesel vehicles will be banned from 2030, as part of the country’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.