Less than a couple of months after Ford announced it was building the new Transit Custom at the Ford Otosan factory in Kocaeli Turkey, the company has now confirmed it will invest $300 million to build a new light commercial vehicle in 2023 at its Craiova Assembly Plant in Romania, including an all-electric version due to debut in 2024 – the first all-electric Ford volume vehicle to be built in Romania.

Ford committed to zero-emission motoring

At the beginning of the year Ford committed to ensure its entire commercial vehicle range will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, by 2024, with two-thirds of Ford’s commercial vehicle sales expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030. Having said all that they will still be building vehicles with all types of power plants including conventional petrol and diesel engines including advanced technology diesel engines from Ford’s Dagenham Engine Plant and transmissions sourced from Ford Halewood Transmissions here in the UK.

Turkey / Romania at the heart of Ford production

With the latest $300m investment Ford’s overall investment in its Romanian manufacturing operations will be close to $2 billion since acquiring the Craiova facility in 2008 which employs around 6000 people. This money has been spent on significant upgrades in recent years, with more than 600 robots installed to further improve efficiency and quality in the body, stamping, paint, trim and chassis shops.

Craiova’s commitment to electrification goes back to October 2019 with the start of Puma mild-hybrid production, while today’s announcement marks another milestone as Ford is the first manufacturer to announce it will build an all-electric vehicle in Romania. In addition to Puma, Ford Craiova currently builds the Ford EcoSport small SUV and the multi-award winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine.

“Ford’s Craiova operations have a strong record of delivering world-class competitiveness and flexibility. Our plan to build this new light commercial vehicle in Romania reflects our continuing positive partnership with local suppliers and the community, and the success of the entire Ford Craiova team. Adding an all-electric version in 2024 means Craiova will be our third facility in Europe to build an all-electric vehicle. It follows recent investments this year in the Ford Cologne Electrified Vehicle Centre in Germany and Ford Otosan’s Kocaeli plant in Turkey and sends another clear signal that we are on an accelerated path to providing our commercial vehicle customers with a zero emissions future in Europe.” says Stuart Rowley, president, Ford of Europe