Ford Investing £70M in Bridgend Engine Plant for New 1.6L EcoBoost Units

28 October 2008

Ford is investing a total of £70 million (US$109 million) in its Bridgend engine plant in Wales to produce next-generation 1.6-liter, four-cylinder gasoline EcoBoost engines. The announced investment includes Welsh Assembly Government support of £13.4 million, and increases the plant’s production capacity to almost 1,000,000 units per year.

The new 1.6-liter engines will go into production within two years, and be among the first of Ford’s turbocharged, gasoline direct injection EcoBoost lineup. (Earlier post.)

Compared with current larger displacement petrol engines of similar power, these new engines are expected to provide up to 20% better fuel economy, 15% lower CO₂ emissions and superior driving performance.

EcoBoost engines will join the existing Ford ECOnetic range of frugal CO₂ diesel-engined vehicles launched this year: the Focus ECOnetic (115 g CO₂/km), the Mondeo (139 g) and all-new Fiesta (98 g). A new Ford Ka ECOnetic has also been confirmed.

The last new engine added at Bridgend plant was a premium 3.2-liter power unit in 2006. Used by Volvo in its vehicles, the compact in-line six-cylinder engine (SI6) is assembled on a Bridgend line that also produces V8 units and features flexible technology, enabling operators to switch between different products. The SI6/V8 flex line installed in 2004 represented a £245 million investment.

Production at Ford Bridgend spans four-, six- and eight-cylinder gasoline engines with capacities ranging from 1.25 to 4.4 litres, which will be supplemented by the new 1.6-liter unit.