Ford Bridgend Engine Plant

Bridgend Engine Plant
Approach road to the Ford Engine Plant, 2009
Map
Built1980
LocationBridgend, Wales, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°29′39″N 3°32′04″W / 51.494049°N 3.534508°W / 51.494049; -3.534508
IndustryAutomotive
ProductsCVH engine (1980–2000)
Zetec-E (Zeta) engine (1992–2004)
EcoBoost engine (2009–2020)
Employees1,700[1]
Area1,525,270 square feet (141,702 m2)
Owner(s)Welsh Government
Defunct25 September 2020; 4 years ago (25 September 2020)

The Ford Bridgend Engine Plant was an internal combustion engine factory owned by Ford of Europe and located in Bridgend, Wales. Between 1980 and 2020, it made over 22 million engines used in Ford, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover cars.[2]

The plant's last Ford engine was the "Dragon" EcoBoost engine, produced from 2018 until February 2020. During its final months, it only made Jaguar AJ-V8 and AJ-V6 engines, themselves discontinued in September 2020.[3]

Amid a global cost-cutting drive and citing a lack of demand for its manufacturing capacity, Ford closed the plant on 25 September 2020.[4][2]

  1. ^ "Ford staff 'anxious' over job cut plans". BBC News. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b "'Journey into the unknown' as Bridgend Ford closes". BBC News. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  3. ^ Rendell, Julian (27 June 2019). "Analysis: What went wrong at Ford's Bridgend plant?". Autocar. Twickenham: Haymarket Automotive. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  4. ^ Jolly, Jasper (6 June 2019). "Ford to close Bridgend factory by September 2020". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 August 2020.