Ford Transit production safe (UK)

Ford has claimed the production of the Transit commercial van in Southampton is “unaffected” by new investment in Ford’s manufacturing plant in Turkey, where the Transit is also built.

Ford announced that it is investing $630m (£400m) in its factory at Kocaeli, where the long-wheelbase Transit and Transit Connect are produced. It says the investment is designed “to support future manufacturing initiatives for the Ford Transit”.

The outlook of the Southampton factory has been the subject matter of strong speculation for the past couple of years, as Ford has wanted to lower the costs of its iconic commercial van.
 

2010 Ford Transit Sapphire

A Ford spokesman said, “Southampton’s future hasn’t changed. It’ll still be making chassis cabs in 2011, as planned.”

Approximately half of the Southampton factory’s 500-strong workers were made redundant last year, but Ford said this summer that the plant would “directly benefit” from its £1.5bn investment in more environmentally friendly technology.