After spending BRL400m/US$180m, Ford has just opened the first engine plant in Brazil’s northeast region with capacity for 210,000 engines a year and 300 new jobs.
Located at the automaker’s Camaçari, Bahia state production centre, it is making the new generation, one-litre, flex-fuel, three cylinder engine for the new Ka hatchback and saloon models due in production next July at the assembly plant on the same site.
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This engine has double overhead camshafts with variable cam phasing for both intake and exhaust, and puts out 84bhp and 77.4 lb-ft (on ethanol), the highest in its naturally aspirated, port injected class. The automaker also expects class-leading fuel consumption under Inmetro testing.
Other variants of the engine are offered in other markets. Petrol/direct fuel injection versions deliver 64 and 79 bhp while the turbocharged EcoBoost version provides 98bp and 123bhp for the Fiesta and Focus.
The 123bhp version will be made in Bahia within one to two years and go into the Brazilian made EcoSport small SUV and Fiesta hatchback and saloon models.
The engine factory has 40 robots and automatic parts trolleys and 34 machining centres. A central management system connects to all equipment using wi-fi.
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By GlobalDataTo minimise contamination, the production area is air pressurised and temperature controlled.
At the opening ceremony, Ford’s global chief of manufacturing and labour relations, John Fleming, said the expansion at Camaçari had been one of the automaker’s fastest and most ambitious in 50 years.
“Ford in 2014 is carrying out its most ambitious launch plan ever by introducing 23 new vehicles globally. This engine plant is to support our growth strategy,” he said.
