
Ford Bridgend Engine Plant this afternoon built its 20-millionth engine, exactly 37 years after the first engine was built in September 1979.
Linda Cash, vice president of Manufacturing, Ford of Europe joined Bridgend Engine Plant manager, Ian Pearson, in marking the achievement saying, “Bridgend has a proud record of high-quality engine production and I’m delighted to celebrate this significant milestone with the team that builds them.
“Today the plant builds a range of high-tech EcoBoost products, and we continue to invest in Bridgend, with the plant confirmed to build the next generation of fuel-efficient petrol engines.”
Ford Bridgend currently supplies petrol engines, including EcoBoost products which provide ultra-low emissions, excellent fuel economy, refinement and performance, for a range of Ford vehicles.
The 1.5-litre EcoBoost is available in the Ford Focus, Ford Kuga, Ford Mondeo, and Ford S-MAX models. The multi-award winning Ford Fiesta ST is powered by a 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine, also built in Bridgend and the newest 200bhp version has just gone into production.
The plant also supplies six and eight-cylinder petrol engines for Jaguar Land Rover and it was one of these which went down the line and into the history books as the 20M unit.
An all-new family of technologically-advanced, fuel-efficient Dragon petrol engines has been confirmed to be built in Bridgend. With an initial investment of £100 million, production is planned to start in late 2018.
The Bridgend Engine Plant has benefitted from more than £1.8 billion of investment since it opened in 1980. It builds 3,400 engines a day, or one every 24 seconds off the busiest line.