Ford Expected to Close Engine Plant in U.K.

Ford Motor Co. appears likely to announce tomorrow that it is closing its engine plant in Bridgend, England, eliminating 1,500 jobs, according to media reports.

The facility, which opened nearly 40 years ago, supplies engines to Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. under a contract that will expire next year. The facility also makes about 125,000 Dragon 4-cylinder gasoline engines annually for Ford assembly plants in Europe.

A closure would leave Ford with two manufacturing facilities in the U.K. that make engines in Dagenham and transmissions in Halewood.

In 2016 Ford slashed a planned capacity expansion at Bridgend by 50%. In 2017, the company warned that it expected to eliminate nearly 1,200 jobs at the complex by 2021.

In April, Ford of Europe Chairman Steven Armstrong told Reuters a “no-deal” U.K. exit from the European Union could result in an end all British manufacturing operations.