Ford invests £150mn in Liverpool plant in electrical automotive components growth

Ford will make investments £150mn in its Halewood plant in Liverpool to broaden manufacturing of electrical automobile components, in a transfer that secures the location’s future and provides a lift to the UK automotive business following a dismal 12 months.

The funding signifies that by 2026 greater than two-thirds of electrical automobiles made by Ford in Europe will depend on components manufactured at Halewood, which employs 500 individuals.

The renewed backing for the plant comes on prime of a £230mn funding Ford made final 12 months and comes because the US firm prepares to change to solely promoting electrical automobiles within the UK and Europe by 2030, and electrical vans by 2035.

Final 12 months’s funding gave the plant the capability to make 250,000 so-called electrical drive items, which include an electrical gearbox and hyperlink the battery and wheels. The injection of one other £150mn into the plant, which at present makes components for inside combustion engines, will carry that capability to 420,000 a 12 months, ranging from 2024.

“[Halewood] is taking part in a essential half as our first in-house funding in EV part manufacturing in Europe,” stated Ford’s European operations director Kieran Cahill.

The choice by Ford is a welcome fillip for the UK auto business, which is racing to draw funding to construct the infrastructure wanted earlier than the sale of recent petrol and diesel fashions is banned within the UK in 2030. 

Final 12 months, the business secured a £1bn funding from Nissan and its battery accomplice Envision AESC to show a web site in Sunderland into a worldwide electrical automotive hub. Stellantis additionally pledged £100mn to make electrical vans at Ellesmere Port.

Nonetheless, this 12 months has been disappointing with BMW confirming the top of electrical Mini manufacturing in Oxford, and UK start-ups Arrival and Britishvolt dealing with funding and manufacturing troubles.

The Society of Motor Producers and Merchants this week lower its manufacturing forecast for the sector by way of to 2025, warning that extra authorities assist was required because the business confronted rising vitality prices and the necessity for extra coaching for workers and apprentices.

The business “wants swift and decisive motion that addresses the fast challenges and provides us a combating probability of successful the worldwide competitors”, stated SMMT chief govt Mike Hawes.

Some £24mn of Ford’s new funding can be allotted to the corporate’s Dunton centre in Basildon, which can put together prototypes of the modules and can practice Halewood workers to supply the brand new electrical drive items.

The items made at Halewood can be used within the electrical Puma automotive in addition to Ford’s vary of electrical Transit and Tourneo vans. 

Worldwide commerce secretary Kemi Bedenoch stated: “Boosting electrical automotive manufacturing is essential to our technique to fight local weather change and right now’s information demonstrates how our manufacturing business, our exports and our financial system will profit from this transition.”