Ford Romania to Build Low CO2 Engine with EU Money

Ford Romania plans to invest 400 million euro this year in its factory based in Craiova (southern Romania), money which are loaned from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The agreement was signed today by Romanian Public Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu, vice president of the European Investment Bank Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen and Wolfgang Schneider, Ford Europe vice president for governmental and environmental issues.

The loan, on which the Romanian government will provide an 80 per cent guarantee, will help Ford Romania to finance the development of a low-emission engine and production of a new small car.

"EIB funds, together with the Romanian state support, provided on favourable terms at a time of difficult market conditions, will both help the Romanian economy to better face the consequences of the current economic crisis and contribute to the production of more environmentally friendly cars," EIB vice president Matthias Kollatz Ahnen said in a statement.

Ford Romania plans to manufacture up to 300,000 vehicles and 300,000 engines in its Craiova plant. They will comply with the EU's latest Euro Ncap 5 safety standards and the Euro 5 emission limits, a statement from EIB explains.

“We are very pleased concerning the provision of the loan," Ford Europe vice president Wolfgang Schneider stated, while making the promise that this will turn the Craiova site "into a world-class manufacturing facility for vehicles and engines."

“We started production of commercial vehicles at the Craiova plant and now we also want to build a small car and a truly innovative engine too,” Schneider added during the signing ceremony.