Ford Craiova will manufacture over 1000 vehicles per day in 2020

By Jerom Bolt
This year, Ford Craiova is set to reach a new record in terms of vehicle production, over 1000 vehicles built per day, one every 67 seconds, the company said Tuesday.
“The production of the 1.0 EcoBoost engine will support the pace of vehicle assembly, reaching a daily peak speed of about 1700 engines, one every 42 seconds. The new Ford Puma will also be delivered in Australia, starting in the first part of this year; the first vehicle built in Romania to be exported to this country ”, shows in the press release.
Ford Craiova now exports vehicles to over 50 markets worldwide. Since 2008, Ford has invested 1.5 billion euros in Craiova. About 3400 jobs have been created in the last three years, and the total number of employees has reached 6300 people.
Ford Romania confirms that the state-of-the-art production unit in Craiova will reach this year a record of daily assembly volume: over 1000 Puma and EcoSport units, so a car is produced every 67 seconds.
“Starting with October 2019, the Ford Craiova factory is building for the first time, in parallel, two compact SUVs inspired by the world of SUVs – Ford EcoSport and the newly launched Ford Puma. SUVs are still the fastest growing segment in Europe. In 2019, a total of 5.9 million SUVs were registered, an increase of 10% compared to 5.4 million units registered in 2018, ”the press release said.
The new Ford Puma is already delivered in all European markets where Ford is present, and starting with the first part of this year, the model built in Craiova will also be exported to Australia, being the first vehicle produced in Romania delivered on this market. With an amount of 1.5 billion euros invested in the factory in Craiova since 2008, Ford Romania has reached a total of 6300 employees, working both in the Vehicle Assembly Factory and the Engine Factory.
About 3400 of them have been employed in the last three years to support the production of the new EcoSport and Puma. As the production volume of the two models steadily increases, Ford Craiova Vehicle Assembly Plant operates for the first time in three shifts.
“In the context of an accelerated pace of vehicle production, the Engine Factory will reach a new record: about 1,700 engines produced in a single day. At this moment, three versions of the multi-award-winning 1.0 EcoBoost engine are being built at the Engine Plant: 100 hp, 125 hp and 155 mHEV ”, the release said.
The new Ford Puma, built exclusively in Craiova, received the maximum rating of five stars in the safety tests organized by the independent authority Euro NCAP. Ford Puma was scored with maximum score on the side impact test with the deformable barrier, but also on the difficult side impact test with the pole.