“We have many suppliers in Arges, around Pitesti,” says Ian Pearson, Ford Romania president.
All the suppliers have trouble getting their products to Ford because it takes one and a half hours to at least two in a slow traffic day to get from Pitesti to Craiova. Those 30 minutes translate into 30 cars Ford can assemble, Ian Pearson said.
Ford has returned to manufacturing in three shifts, both of cars, as it assembles 1,000 units per day and engines. It even expanded the Puma SUV range, adding diesel engines, automatic transmission, premium version Vignale and sports version ST. The new versions come with a higher price tag, which means higher revenue for the carmaker.
The lack infrastructure is an increasingly serious problem for Ford’s plant in Craiova as it tries to find more suppliers and most of them operate around Pitesti. The expressway that should connect Craiova and Pitesti will not be completed any sooner than end 2023.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)