Ford Romania


Ford Romania is an automobile manufacturing company operated by Ford of Europe, located in Craiova, Romania.

History

20th century

Ford company came to Romania in 1935, after a negotiation with the Romanian government. The company started the first car production line in Eastern Europe at the Ford Română S.A.R. facility in Floreasca neighborhood of Bucharest. It assembled 1935 Ford, 1937 Ford, in Standard and De Luxe versions, Mercury Eight, and Fordson trucks.
The plant produced until World War II when it did only repair activities for the army vehicle fleet. After the war, in 1948, the company was nationalized, and changed its activity to become, in 1960, Automatica, a manufacturer of electrical equipment and automation.

21st century

In modern times the company is located in Craiova, in the former Oltcit car factory, later Daewoo Motors facility in Romania, which Ford acquired in 2008 from the Romanian government.
Vehicle production at the plant began in September 2009 with the Ford Transit Connect, and later with the Ford B-Max. Engine production at the plant includes three- and four-cylinder versions of Ford's EcoBoost engine family. The plant has a production capacity of 300,000 units per year and it is the country's third company by value of exports.
In March 2016, it was announced that the Ford EcoSport will be built at the Craiova plant starting from the autumn of 2017, moving production for the European market from the current plant in Chennai, India. This happens on the background of the growing market for the SUV segment in Europe, and will bring an investment of €200 million to the factory.

Production

Automobiles