Ford to Add Output of Second Engine in Romania

Ford Motor Co., which launched production of the B-MAX mini-MPV on Monday at its manufacturing complex in Craiova, Romania, says it will begin building an unspecified 1.5-liter gasoline engine there in early 2013.

The Craiova factory started making Ford's new 1.0-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost gasoline powerplant last month with annual capacity of 350,000 engines. The company didn't say whether it would expand capacity when it adds the second engine.

The B-Max will go on sale across Europe later this year. Ford has said it plans to produce 60,000 B-MAX vehicles at Craiova this year, 105,000 units next year and 300,000 by 2015.

The company says it will invest €175 million ($219 million) to increase output at the former Daewoo plant it acquired in 2008, in addition to its initial investment of €500 million ($625 million) to renovate the facility.

The B-MAX marks the first mass-market volume production at the factory, which has been idled since October. The global economic crisis delayed plans to begin making a high-volume model in Craiova in 2011. The plant assembled a modest number of Transit Connect commercial vans in 2010-2011.