Ford to announce UK engine plant closure, report says
Its Bridgend plant in Wales built around 20 percent of Britain’s 2.7 million automotive engines last year but a contract to supply Jaguar Land Rover ends in 2020 leaving a run of its own Dragon gasoline engines which are sent abroad to be fitted into vehicles.
Union officials were due to meet Ford representatives on Thursday. “If our worst fears are confirmed it will mean disaster for both our members in Bridgend and the community at large, who we will stand by the tough thick and thin,” said GMB union organizer Jeff Beck.
The Bridgend plant has been a major source of engines for vehicles sold in North America, for three brands – Ford, Jaguar and Land Rover. But changes to product plans have reduced the vehicles that Bridgend-built engines are used in.