Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Ford Bridgend Engine Plant
The Ford Bridgend Engine Plant was an internal combustion engine factory owned by Ford of Europe and located in Bridgend, Wales. Between 1980 and 2020, it made over 22 million engines used in Ford, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover cars.
The plant's last Ford engine was the "Dragon" EcoBoost engine, produced from 2018 until February 2020. During its final months, it only made Jaguar AJ-V8 and AJ-V6 engines, themselves discontinued in September 2020.
Amid a global cost-cutting drive and citing a lack of demand for its manufacturing capacity, Ford closed the plant on 25 September 2020.
After signing an investment deal with the Welsh Development Agency, construction was started on the greenfield site in 1977. The 1,525,270 square feet (141,702 m2) plant began production in 1980, and specialised in producing high-efficiency petrol engines. Its first product was the CVH engine used in the then new third generation European Escort of that year.
Jaguar Land Rover had a plant-within-a-plant at Bridgend, which saved considerable investment costs by JLR. Staffed by workers dedicated to Jaguar production of the AJ-V8 engine, it included a linked flow-line of computer numerically controlled machines with automated loading and assembly. Component supply was on a just-in-time manufacturing basis. JLR moved the production of its engines to its new Wolverhampton plant in September 2020.
At the start of 2015, the Bridgend plant had an annual production capacity of 750,000 engines, including 250,000 for Jaguar Land Rover, and employed a total of 2,137 people. The Volvo SI6 engine made there was discontinued in March that year, with its replacement to be made elsewhere; the plant's Ford engines were expected to end production "in the next few years." Production of the Jaguar engines was then expected to end in 2018, with their replacements also made elsewhere. This left the plant redundant by 2018 in the absence of new work.
In the 2000s, Ford's strategy to reduce its vehicles' tailpipe pollution ahead of its eventual transition to battery electric vehicles was to invest in more efficient engines rather than hybrid drivetrains. To this end, they designed a series of small, direct-injected, turbocharged engines branded "EcoBoost."
The 2012 "Fox" EcoBoost, a straight-three with a displacement of 1.0 litre (61 cu in), producing up to 90 kW (120 PS), was introduced in 2012 and won International Engine of the Year in the sub-1.0-litre category every year until 2017. Hoping to repeat the Fox's success for heavier and sportier vehicles, Ford designed a scaled-up version with a displacement of 1.5 litres (91 cu in), producing up to 150 kW (200 PS), which they named "Dragon."
Hub AI
Ford Bridgend Engine Plant AI simulator
(@Ford Bridgend Engine Plant_simulator)
Ford Bridgend Engine Plant
The Ford Bridgend Engine Plant was an internal combustion engine factory owned by Ford of Europe and located in Bridgend, Wales. Between 1980 and 2020, it made over 22 million engines used in Ford, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover cars.
The plant's last Ford engine was the "Dragon" EcoBoost engine, produced from 2018 until February 2020. During its final months, it only made Jaguar AJ-V8 and AJ-V6 engines, themselves discontinued in September 2020.
Amid a global cost-cutting drive and citing a lack of demand for its manufacturing capacity, Ford closed the plant on 25 September 2020.
After signing an investment deal with the Welsh Development Agency, construction was started on the greenfield site in 1977. The 1,525,270 square feet (141,702 m2) plant began production in 1980, and specialised in producing high-efficiency petrol engines. Its first product was the CVH engine used in the then new third generation European Escort of that year.
Jaguar Land Rover had a plant-within-a-plant at Bridgend, which saved considerable investment costs by JLR. Staffed by workers dedicated to Jaguar production of the AJ-V8 engine, it included a linked flow-line of computer numerically controlled machines with automated loading and assembly. Component supply was on a just-in-time manufacturing basis. JLR moved the production of its engines to its new Wolverhampton plant in September 2020.
At the start of 2015, the Bridgend plant had an annual production capacity of 750,000 engines, including 250,000 for Jaguar Land Rover, and employed a total of 2,137 people. The Volvo SI6 engine made there was discontinued in March that year, with its replacement to be made elsewhere; the plant's Ford engines were expected to end production "in the next few years." Production of the Jaguar engines was then expected to end in 2018, with their replacements also made elsewhere. This left the plant redundant by 2018 in the absence of new work.
In the 2000s, Ford's strategy to reduce its vehicles' tailpipe pollution ahead of its eventual transition to battery electric vehicles was to invest in more efficient engines rather than hybrid drivetrains. To this end, they designed a series of small, direct-injected, turbocharged engines branded "EcoBoost."
The 2012 "Fox" EcoBoost, a straight-three with a displacement of 1.0 litre (61 cu in), producing up to 90 kW (120 PS), was introduced in 2012 and won International Engine of the Year in the sub-1.0-litre category every year until 2017. Hoping to repeat the Fox's success for heavier and sportier vehicles, Ford designed a scaled-up version with a displacement of 1.5 litres (91 cu in), producing up to 150 kW (200 PS), which they named "Dragon."