Back in March, Ford Otosan – a joint venture equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koc Holding – announced that it intended to assume ownership of the Craiova Assembly plant in Romania, where the Puma EV and a pair of new Transit models will be built, pending regulatory approval. The European Commission (EC) approved that acquisition late last month, and now, Ford Otosan has officially assumed ownership of the Craiova Assembly plant as FoMoCo aims to transition its entire European passenger vehicle lineup to EVs by 2030 or sooner.
“With the Craiova plant acquisition, Ford Otosan is expanding its manufacturing experience and capabilities into international operations,” said Güven Ozyurt, general manager, Ford Otosan. “Highly skilled employees of Craiova and their outstanding work in producing some of the most appreciated Ford products will build on Ford Otosan’s success story. Craiova will benefit from the skill base and knowledge transfer through Ford Otosan’s experience in designing, engineering, and building commercial vehicles as well as electrification.”
The purpose of this move is to combine the Craiova plant’s production capacity with Ford Otosan’s extensive experience in commercial vehicle design, engineering, and manufacturing with an eye toward expanding the company’s commercial vehicle and electrification plans. With that in mind, Ford Otosan will invest €490 million ($504 million USD) in the plant over the next three years as it prepares to build the next-generation Transit Courier starting in 2023, with an all‑electric version of that model following in 2024. The Puma EV will join its ICE-powered brethren on the assembly line in 2024 as well.
“Ford is leveraging strategic partnerships to better utilize resources by sharing investments and benefitting from a wider pool of expertise thereby boosting its electric and commercial vehicle capacity in Europe,” said Stuart Rowley, chair, Ford of Europe.
We’ll have more on Ford’s electrification plans soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
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