Ford Bridgend Builds Engine No. 15 Million

Ford's UK based Bridgend facility announced it has rolled off the assembly line the 15 millionth engine in its 9th year of existence. The threshold was reached somehow ahead of schedule, following a boom in demand as a result of UK's scrappage scheme. As a twist, engine number 15 million coincided with the five millionth four cylinder engine built here since 1998.

"In these tough times it's refreshing to report good news, with extra production scheduled last month and again in September to keep up with demand. The plant's outlook is positive too following this month's announcement that our 1.6 EcoBoost debuts in the new C-Max next year," Graham Edwards, Bridgend plant manager was quoted as saying by just-auto.com.

The facility will take the role as one of the main production hubs for Ford's I4 EcoBoost engines from mid-2010. Although it will at first go into the new generation C-Max, the 1.6l EcoBoost will slowly become one of the center pieces of Ford's engine line-up.

Ford engine, one of the stars of this year's Frankfurt Auto Show, promises to bring a reduction of 20 percent in both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, when compared to engines with similar outputs.

"We believe that these engines will provide customers with a genuinely attractive alternative to diesel or hybrid power units, delivering highly competitive fuel economy and cost-of-ownership, along with the responsive performance and wide rev range which have made petrol engines the favored choice for so many drivers," John Fleming, Ford Europe CEO said about the new units.