American automobile manufacturer Ford has announced a £150m investment in its UK plant in Halewood, which it plans to transition to the production of electric vehicle (EV) parts, raising its total funding for the site to date to £380m.
The company has said that its Halewood site is integral to Ford’s European electrification plan, which is centred on the deadline around zero-emission car sales by 2030, which will be followed by all vehicles in 2035.
The investment has been allocated to Halewood in order to scale up its production of electric power units. Ford expects Halewood to be responsible for 70% of the Ford EVs sold in Europe by 2026.
This latest investment – which includes government support from UK Export Finance, through its Export Development Guarantee – will reportedly mean that 500 high-value Ford jobs at Halewood have been protected, and that workers will be given the chance to upskill for Ford’s EV future.
Kieran Cahill, European industrial operations vice-president at Ford, 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.”
Last year, it was announced that the plant, which currently produces transmissions for internal combustion engine vehicles, had been offered the chance to assemble Ford’s EV power units. This was followed by an initial investment of £230m to deliver 250,000 units a year from 2024.
What’s more, this prior funding round was supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Automotive Transformation Fund, which was established to electrify Britain’s automotive supply chain and safeguard its position and competitive edge within the global market.
