Ford's Romanian unit said it had started production of the Puma ST crossover at its plant in Craiova.
The ST is the sporty version of the subcompact crossover Puma and the first Ford Performance model produced in Romania, the automaker said in a press release cited by SeeNews.com.
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Ford Performance is the US car maker's high-performance division and the multinational name used for its motorsport and racing activity.
The ST is powered by a 200PS 1.5 litre EcoBoost engine delivering 0-100 km/h acceleration in 6.7 seconds.
Ford started producing the Puma crossover model in Craiova in October 2019, following a EUR200m (US$234) investment in the assembly line. In October 2017, the company started EcoSport SUV production at Craiova following another EUR200m investment. The plant previously built the B-Max.
Ford announced last July it would start production of the ST during 2020 and also announced it was investing $30m in a new press line at the plant to produce a wider range of components which currently are brought in from other Ford factories in Europe.
Ford entered Romania in March 2008 when it took a 72.4% stake in Automobile Craiova, the sole owner of car maker and distributor Daewoo Automobile Romania.
The auto manufacturer currently has about 6,300 employees in Romania.
