Ford announced that it will move production of its subcompact crossover that’s sold in Europe from India to its plant in Romania.
It plans to invest up to 200 million euros in the Craiova factory to build the EcoSport.
The facility in Chennai, India will continue to produce the small crossover for the domestic as well as select export markets.
“EcoSport sales are up nearly 30 percent this year and given the continued outlook for sales growth in the small SUV segment, it’s the right time to move its production to Europe and take advantage of the excellent workforce and operations we have in Craiova”, said Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford of Europe.
Production is expected to start in the autumn of 2017. Ford’s Romanian plant has, until now, been building the B-Max compact minivan and the turbocharged 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine.
Ford projects more than 200,000 crossover sales in the European market, which translates into a 30 per cent increase compared to last year’s results.
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