Dustyw85 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 (edited) BRIDGEND, Wales – Ford has approved an investment of £181 million at its Bridgend Engine Plant in South Wales to produce a family of all-new, technologically-advanced, fuel-efficient petrol engines. The investment includes Welsh Government support of £14.67 million, with production planned to start in late 2018. The Ford announcement was welcomed by Welsh Economy Minister Edwina Hart: “Ford is a Welsh Anchor Company and the Bridgend Engine Plant plays a key role in the economy of South Wales. In a climate of stiff global competitiveness, we have been actively seeking to win a share of this investment for Wales and so we are delighted with today’s announcement. “Ford’s decision to manufacture its new innovative engine here in Wales is a tribute to the reputation of the local management team and the quality and loyalty of the Welsh workforce and will safeguard more than 750 skilled Welsh jobs for many years.” Teams from the Ford Dunton Technical Centre in Essex, as well as Ford’s Technical Centre in Merkenich Germany, and the Ford Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany, have worked together on the design and development of the all-new engine family. Earlier this year, Ford built its 5 millionth vehicle worldwide equipped with a fuel-efficient EcoBoost petrol engine, and in Europe more than one-in-four of all Ford vehicles sold are fitted with an EcoBoost engine. The 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine – winner of the International Engine of the Year for an unprecedented three years in succession – is the most popular EcoBoost version in Europe, with one-in-five vehicles sold in the region being equipped with the engine. http://www.at.ford.com/news/cn/Pages/Ford%20Approves%20New%20Family%20of%20Low-Emission%20Petrol%20Engines%20for%20Its%20Bridgend%20Engine%20Plant%20in%20South%20Wales.aspx Maybe an all-new small 4-cylinder ecoboost engine family to replace the Sigma? Edited September 25, 2015 by Dustyw85 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 (edited) It was a matter of time but good to see a more official announcement. Is this the family codenamed 'Dragon'? Edited September 25, 2015 by Hugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transitman Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Is this the same Bridgend Engine Plant that screwed up the early 1.6L EcoBoost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Pretty sure most of those problems were vehicle assembly problems, not the engine itself. I know one was a cross threaded/loose engine coolant reservoir cap. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 Pretty sure most of those problems were vehicle assembly problems, not the engine itself. I know one was a cross threaded/loose engine coolant reservoir cap. Or glitches in engine programming that caused fires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted September 27, 2015 Share Posted September 27, 2015 When will the "snappy" name be revealed...Top choices, as follows;Eco-redux Twin Force unite Bridgend Biometric 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Is this the same Bridgend Engine Plant that screwed up the early 1.6L EcoBoost? If you are referring to the debacle that happened with the launch of the "new" 2012MY US Escape, it was not a manufacturing issue. It was an engine controls design issue. The Brits were given the lead on the design and choose NOT to take any advice from the folks in the US. "One Ford" [sarcasm] Right. Sure [/sarcasm] That was probably the WORST US vehicle launch that Ford has had in the past 10-20 years. A friend of a friend drove a rental car, that Ford paid for, for more than 9 months. They finally gave him a brand new 2013 Escape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 If you are referring to the debacle that happened with the launch of the "new" 2012MY US Escape, it was not a manufacturing issue. It was an engine controls design issue. The Brits were given the lead on the design and choose NOT to take any advice from the folks in the US. "One Ford" [sarcasm] Right. Sure [/sarcasm] That was probably the WORST US vehicle launch that Ford has had in the past 10-20 years. A friend of a friend drove a rental car, that Ford paid for, for more than 9 months. They finally gave him a brand new 2013 Escape. I don't think it compares to the 2013 Fusion/MKZ though. That was atrocious with vehicles being shipped to FRAP for repairs and customers waiting months to get their new Fusions and MKZs. They had to fly one of the die presses from Hermosillo back to Detroit to be repaired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 If you are referring to the debacle that happened with the launch of the "new" 2012MY US Escape, it was not a manufacturing issue. It was an engine controls design issue. The Brits were given the lead on the design and choose NOT to take any advice from the folks in the US. "One Ford" [sarcasm] Right. Sure [/sarcasm] Curious what engine controls design differences there are between the US spec 1.6EB and the Euro spec 1.6EB. Also can you explain what the design issue was or is with the engine controls, and what did they do to correct this issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 If you are referring to the debacle that happened with the launch of the "new" 2012MY US Escape, it was not a manufacturing issue. It was an engine controls design issue. The Brits were given the lead on the design and choose NOT to take any advice from the folks in the US. "One Ford" [sarcasm] Right. Sure [/sarcasm] That was probably the WORST US vehicle launch that Ford has had in the past 10-20 years. A friend of a friend drove a rental car, that Ford paid for, for more than 9 months. They finally gave him a brand new 2013 Escape. The 1999 Focus and 2000 Escape were the worst US launch for Ford ever. The cars were recalled 10 times each in the first 18 months and had 3 separate stop sales before 2001 model showed up. It was an epic disaster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Focus was a 2000 model the first year in the U.S.. Escape was 2001 the first year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Focus was a 2000 model the first year in the U.S.. Escape was 2001 the first year. If the launched in the fall of 1999 and 2000, that would still make them 2000 and 2001 MY cars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 If the launched in the fall of 1999 and 2000, that would still make them 2000 and 2001 MY cars... Um, that's what I said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 I'm beating a dead horse here but wasn't the Focus launched in Europe one year earlier than NA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 I'm beating a dead horse here but wasn't the Focus launched in Europe one year earlier than NA? The Europe model didn't have the recalls. The penny pinching by the North American bean counters caused the harm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 (edited) Ford began sales of the Focus to Europe in July 1998. Ford of North America began marketing the Focus in October 1999 for the 2000 model year Edited October 1, 2015 by MKII Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 If you are referring to the debacle that happened with the launch of the "new" 2012MY US Escape, it was not a manufacturing issue. It was an engine controls design issue. The Brits were given the lead on the design and choose NOT to take any advice from the folks in the US. "One Ford" [sarcasm] Right. Sure [/sarcasm] That was probably the WORST US vehicle launch that Ford has had in the past 10-20 years. A friend of a friend drove a rental car, that Ford paid for, for more than 9 months. They finally gave him a brand new 2013 Escape. How is that possible when Ford North America was responsible for federalizing the 1.6? why did the over pressurization/ fail safe cooling issue only show up on North Amrican products? I think you are confusing the 2.0 with the 1.6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I don't think it compares to the 2013 Fusion/MKZ though. That was atrocious with vehicles being shipped to FRAP for repairs and customers waiting months to get their new Fusions and MKZs. They had to fly one of the die presses from Hermosillo back to Detroit to be repaired.Again, I was no longer working there at the time, but this launch was handled by Ford EU where as the 1st Gen Fusion was handled by Ford US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 How is that possible when Ford North America was responsible for federalizing the 1.6? why did the over pressurization/ fail safe cooling issue only show up on North Amrican products? I think you are confusing the 2.0 with the 1.6. I never mentioned engine size, but YOU ARE 100% ON THE MONEY regarding the cooling issue ! I did not mean to imply that the design and/or launch were the responsibility of US engineering and apologize if I did. Ford EU had the lead all the way ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 (edited) I never mentioned engine size, but I was told by US engineers they were given specific instruction form Ford EU not to include the overheat protection software, I did not mean to imply that the design and/or launch were the responsibility of US engineering and apologize if I did. Ford EU had the lead all the way ! Edited October 5, 2015 by theoldwizard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Curious what engine controls design differences there are between the US spec 1.6EB and the Euro spec 1.6EB. Also can you explain what the design issue was or is with the engine controls, and what did they do to correct this issue? I don't work there anymore, although I know several people who do ! The basic emission relate engine control software is the same. There are "features" that are not emission related that can be added or not. The fix was to add in the overheat protection algorithm that was available at the time. I THINK Ford EU did not want it because it reduced power when it detected an overheat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I never mentioned engine size, but I was told by US engineers they were given specific instruction form Ford EU not to include the overheat protection software, I did not mean to imply that the design and/or launch were the responsibility of US engineering and apologize if I did. Ford EU had the lead all the way ! how come the testing Scheme of the Engine never detected the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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