The pain associated with fossil fuels increases for automakers while Ford's Bridgend engine shutter plant

June 6, 2019 by Steve Hanley

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Nothing defines a conventional car more than the engine under its hood. And there is nothing to indicate the imminent disaster faced by traditional manufacturers, namely the need to shut down an engine manufacturing plant due to the lack of demand for internal combustion engines.

That's exactly what Ford does at its Bridgend engine plant in South Wales. A worker identified only as Stephen says The Guardian, "The writing is on the wall for a long time. We knew that when the Sigma engine was finished, there would be no replacement. We knew that when the AJ engine was finished, there would have been no replacement. The planned volumes for the new Dragon engine were 250,000, then 125,000, then 70,000 for the last thing to do. "

The Bridgend plant built 20% of the Ford vehicle engines sold in the UK last year, including the Fiesta and B-Max, according to the same source. News from the automobile. Production of this 1.5-liter gasoline engine will end in February, while an engine supply contract for Jaguar Land Rover will come to an end in September of next year.

"The changing customer demand and cost disadvantages, as well as the lack of additional engine models for Bridgend, will render the plant economically unsustainable in the coming years," said the president of Bridgend. Ford Europe, Stuart Rowley.

As might be expected, local union officials raised their arms during the closing. "Ford has broken promise after pledge made in the UK," said Unite Union Secretary General Len McCluskey. News from the automobile in an email. "The company has deliberately reduced its operations in the UK, so that no Ford vehicle – car or van – is manufactured in the UK. We will strongly resist this closure and we will invite the governments of the Welsh Assembly and Westminster to join us in saving this plant, "said McCluskey.

Ford officials said the Brexit had nothing to do with the decision to close Bridgend, but others are not so sure, pointing out that market uncertainty about the British economy could have convinced others to delay or cancel their engine purchase plans with Ford.

While proponents of electric vehicles can celebrate the closure of an engine plant in the same way that environmental activists celebrate the closure of a coal-fired plant, the effect on individual workers will be tough. Len Jones, who has worked at Bridgend for almost 8 years, tells The Guardian"It's devastating. Everyone has mortgages to pay and families to support. I was waiting for a little more time to sort things out. When we learned, everyone was silent. They gave us letters and we all went home. It's difficult to understand, even if we expected it. Now it's official, it's really a bad thing.

The key to a successful transition to electric cars or renewable energies is not to carry the burden of future changes on the shoulders of workers. Retraining programs are essential for making both revolutions a goal that ordinary citizens can support rather than oppose. Ford said it would work to find new job opportunities for laid-off workers, but as the factory is the central industrial activity in this part of Wales, it means that many will face the prospect of selling their homes and moving.

Keywords: Brexit, Bridgend factory, UK engine production, Ford, Ford UK