* The plant in Craiova in southern Romania will become Ford’s third European production facility to build an all-electric vehicle, following recent investments in its plants in Cologne, Germany, and Kocaeli, Turkey https://www.wardsauto.com/ informs. Ford is expanding and modernizing its assembly plant in Craiova, Romania, as it prepares to build a new light-commercial vehicle from 2023, followed by a battery-electric version in 2024. The plant in Craiova in southern Romania will become Ford’s third European production facility to build an all-electric vehicle, following recent investments in its plants in Cologne, Germany, and Kocaeli, Turkey. The new LCV, however, will be equipped with some of Ford’s most advanced internal-combustion engines, including diesels from the automaker’s Dagenham (U.K.) Engine Plant. Transmissions will be sourced from Halewood, U.K. Despite growing consumer demand, EV production in Romania is relatively small and the country’s charging infrastructure is severely underdeveloped compared with other European Union countries. The electric Ford FCV could help expand the market. The expansion at Craiova follows Ford’s investment of almost €2 billion ($2.26 billion) into the plant since acquiring a 72.4% stake in the facility from Daewoo Automobile Romania in 2008. That total includes €200 million ($238 million) invested in production of the Puma compact CUV – Ford’s best-selling vehicle in Romania – introduced in October 2019. Ford also invested €200 million in Craiova for production of the EcoSport CUV launched in October 2017. The EcoSport and Puma account for 53% of the passenger vehicles made by Ford in Romania, where the U.S. automaker employs about 6,000 people. The Craiova factory, which also manufactures 1.0L EcoBoost engines, has more than 600 robots used in the body, stamping, paint, trim and chassis shops. Ford announced last year it was investing $30 million in a new pressing line at Craiova in order to produce a wider range of components.
Romania’s government has assumed responsibility in Parliament for legislation reforming magistrates’ pensions, prime minister Ilie Bolojan announced on December 2. He said the draft law had received the opinion of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, noting that the court’s assessment was negative. It is the government’s second attempt to have the bill promulgated, […]
Romania Education Alliance (REA), the first private school network in the country, announced it has exceeded the milestone of 1,000 students enrolled across its member schools just one year after launch. "The fact that we surpassed 1,000 students in our very first year of activity shows that the REA model addresses a real need in […]
Genesis College, one of the largest private educational institutions in Romania, announced the regulatory approval of the transaction through which the investment firm Mozaik Investments becomes its majority shareholder. The transaction, signed at the end of July, received all necessary approvals from the Competition Council on November 25, and, formally, the entire investment procedure is […]
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending up to EUR 29.9 million to the Romanian city of Brasov to finance energy efficiency upgrades in public buildings, initiating the city’s participation in the Bank’s flagship EBRD Green Cities programme. The Bank’s investment will fund the renovation of up to 20 public buildings, including […]
This festive season, JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel invites guests to embrace the extraordinary and transform each moment into a lasting memory. On New Year’s Eve, the hotel unveils The Grand Countdown — a luminous celebration of new beginnings, thoughtfully crafted across four distinctive venues, each with its own character and atmosphere. The night begins […]
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of sole control over ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Iași (AMTP Iași) by Metinvest B.V. of the Netherlands, part of the Ukrainian steel and mining group owned by Rinat Akhmetov, New Voice of Ukraine reported last week. Metinvest has...
