Ford Confirms Engine Plant Closure in U.K.

Ford Motor Co. has confirmed media reports that it will shut down its British engine plant in Bridgend, South Wales.

The underutilized facility, which currently employs 1,700 people, opened in 1977. The facility supplies engines to Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. and Ford assembly plants in Europe. But the JLR contract will expire in September 2020, and Ford says demand for its own 1.5-liter engines is shrinking.

The carmaker plans to stop making its own engines at Bridgend in February and shutter the plant when the JRL contract expires seven months later. “Significant” efforts failed to find new supply deals for the factory, the company says.

Ford expects to record a one-time $650 million charge, most of it this year. About $400 million of the total will go to employees, according to the company.