He said the decision to make a new B-class vehicle is part of Ford’s new strategy for the reorganization of its European factories. The factory in Craiova, southern Romania, will specialize on assembling B-class vehicles.
Production of the Transit Connect model will be transferred to Ford’s plant in Valencia, Spain. Ford will invest EUR800 million in its Spanish factory, which will make a new Transit Connect version and the Kuga crossover.
Nenzen said the reorganization strategy does not affect the plans for the B-Max model, which will hit the market in the second quarter of next year.
According to the strategy, the Craiova factory will have more part suppliers and more employees. Around 3500 people currently work at the factory.
The Ford official said the factory will work at its maximum capacity of 350 units per day when production of the new B-class model begins. Over 90% of the new model production will be exported.
Nenzen confirmed that production of the new EcoBoost engine had begun, to be used in vehicles built at Craiova, but possibly sold abroad, should other European plants be interested.
Over the next three years, Ford plans to start building at least 20 new or upgraded models in Europe.
Ford Romania has started work on the first B-Max prototypes built in Romania and is expected to produce more than 70 units this summer. The assembly kits come from Ford’s plants in Germany, where sample models were built for the Geneva Motor Show.
The prototypes being built at Craiova will be tested on the Lommel Proving Grounds in Belgium, as well as in countries with extreme weather. The test vehicles will also travel on Romanian roads this summer. After their trials, the cars will be scrapped.
Production on the B-Max mini MPV is due to begin next year.