Ford invests £230m into UK electric vehicle manufacturing

LONDON — Automaker Ford is investing £230 million to build key components for the firm’s electric vehicle line near Liverpool.

The firm’s Halewood transmission plant in Merseyside will build Ford’s e-drive systems. The factory currently employs 500 people. 

The move is “​​fantastic news,” said Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday. Kwarteng’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) held talks with Ford over the “eTrans” investment. The investment comes with government support through the Automotive Transformation Fund.

The investment will make the Halewood plant Ford’s first European plant to produce these parts.

The investment is “a vote of confidence in the U.K. and the North West, securing the plant’s future and high-skilled jobs for years to come,” said Kwarteng.

Production at the plant is set to begin in 2024. The move follow’s Nissan’s £423 million investment in electric vehicle production in the U.K. at its Sunderland plant in July.

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