Romanian Government approves new deadline for Ford to reach production target

Romania’s Government has approved the extension of the deadline for the American car producer Ford to reach the promised production level in Romania. The company will be able to produce 810,000 cars and 1.5 million engines by the end of 2025 instead of December 31, 2017. In 2012, Ford received a state aid of EUR 75 million, with the condition of reaching those production targets by the end of 2017. It can now deliver the promised production later, but only if it carries out an additional investment of at least EUR 130 million with its own funds. Of the total amount, EUR 100 million will to be used to produce a new car model in Craiova whereas EUR 30 million will be used for engine production. The Government has approved the new deadline in order to secure the Ford investments in Craiova and to keep the current number of employees, namely 2,700. Jim Farley, the head of Ford Europe, announced in March that Ford would produce the new EcoSport small-size SUV in the Craiova plant starting the fall of 2017. editor@romania-insider.com