Ford will reopen a closed engine plant in Windsor, in the Canadian province of Ontario, to assemble a new generation of V8 engines, making a bet that the ‘gas guzzlers’ will still be needed even as the price of fuel soars toward $US4 a gallon.
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The No. 2 Detroit automaker and the Ontario government announced on Monday a $C170m investment that includes a $17m contribution from the province.
The move means 300 people will go back to work at the Essex engine plant, which was shut last year in one of a series of restructuring moves Ford has made as it adjusts to years of market share losses.
Ford had originally sought $30m from each of the Ontario and Canadian governments for a $600m upgrade of the plant.
But the national government refused to provide financial assistance to specific projects. Ford said it was still in talks with that level of government about obtaining financial help.
Ford’s group vice-president of global product development, Derrick Kuzak, said at the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, in January that a highly efficient V6 engine can take the place of a V8 engine on passenger cars, but the big engine is still needed for commercial trucks.
