This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/south_east/7694657.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| £70m investment for Ford factory | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Ford has announced a £70m investment at its engine plant at Bridgend in south Wales. | Ford has announced a £70m investment at its engine plant at Bridgend in south Wales. |
| The company announced that the factory, which employs 2,000 workers, will produce a new generation of low CO2 petrol engines. | The company announced that the factory, which employs 2,000 workers, will produce a new generation of low CO2 petrol engines. |
| First Minister Rhodri Morgan said it would secure the plant's future. | |
| The company has invested more than £300m at the 28-year-old plant over the last five years. Capacity will increase to almost one million engines a year. | |
| First Minister Rhodri Morgan said the decision would secure the future of the plant "well into the medium term". | First Minister Rhodri Morgan said the decision would secure the future of the plant "well into the medium term". |
| He said it would mean a "very secure future" for the Bridgend factory. | He said it would mean a "very secure future" for the Bridgend factory. |
| The plant is Wales' third largest manufacturing plant, behind Airbus and Corus at Port Talbot. | |
| It currently employs 2,000 but it could see numbers rise to 2,100 although Ford was being cautious in the current economic climate. | |
| The new engines will go into production within two years and will be among the first of a new generation of petrol engines expected to provide up to 20% better fuel economy and 15% lower CO2 emissions. | The new engines will go into production within two years and will be among the first of a new generation of petrol engines expected to provide up to 20% better fuel economy and 15% lower CO2 emissions. |
| 'Shaft of light' | |
| John Fleming, chief executive of Ford Europe said: "The Bridgend team will play an important role in delivering these new engines which add an innovative ingredient to petrol engine technology and deliver a combination of low emissions and efficient performance that will be vital to meet future customer needs around the world." | John Fleming, chief executive of Ford Europe said: "The Bridgend team will play an important role in delivering these new engines which add an innovative ingredient to petrol engine technology and deliver a combination of low emissions and efficient performance that will be vital to meet future customer needs around the world." |
| The investment includes £13.4m from the Welsh assembly government and Mr Morgan said they had turned round the grant application by Ford in two months to secure the expansion. | |
| He said the Bridgend plant will be the sole global source of the clean energy engine and it was a "real feather in the cap" for Wales . | |
| Mr Morgan acknowledged this latest investment was "a bit of a shaft of light in the surrounding gloom" of recession in the motor industry. | |
| On Monday Llanelli-based car parts plant announced it was cutting 60 jobs blaming the global economic downturn. | |
| Mr Morgan added: "We must not pretend its all bad news when its not." | |
| He said in the face of economic recession the assembly government was striving to be more creative in its strategies although he said they could not create a market for products if its not there. | |
| He said they were having to reprioritise and look at areas such as affordable housing and schools and hospitals where opportunities were available. | |
| "What we are looking for is to bring forward those projects which employ the most number of people," said Mr Morgan. |