To meet rising demand for the two-litre EcoBoost engine in cars sold in North America, Ford will spend nearly US$200m and add 450 new jobs to build them at its Cleveland Engine Plant.
The engines currently come from Valencia in Spain which will continue to supply engines for cars sold in Europe.
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Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of The Americas, said: “Cleveland Engine Plant was the first to produce EcoBoost engines and will continue to be a cornerstone of Ford’s strategy to deliver affordable fuel economy for millions.”
Valencia will continue to produce and ship parts for these engines to North America.
Overall employment at the Valencia plant will not be impacted. Valencia Engine Plant will transfer some employees to he assembly plant for increased production of the C-MAX, Kuga, Transit Connect and Tourneo Connect.
“Ford is making the move to assemble engines regionally to help meet rising consumer demand… and to optimise production capabilities around the world,” the automaker said.
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By GlobalDataProduction will begin in North America in late 2014. Cleveland Engine Plant currently builds the 3.5-litre EcoBoost engine and 3.7-litre V6. The Ohio facility employs approximately 1,300 people. It has built over 500,000 EcoBoost engines since 2009.
This year EcoBoost will be available on about 90% of North American nameplates and by 2015, 95 percent. In 2013 Ford expects to sell over 500,000 EcoBoost-equipped vehicles in the US – a sizeable increase over 2012’s 334,364.
