THE Ford Fiesta is revving all over the world to show why British-built engines are in a class of their own.
It is part of the company’s "One Ford" strategy that will see future Ford vehicles, including the Fiesta and next generation Focus, sold globally.
During the 15,000-mile round-the-world trip Fiesta models will visit 21 countries in more than 50 days.
UK-built engines are a key part of the "One Ford" strategy and during the Fiesta's 500-mile leg across Britain, it stopped off at Ford's Bridgend engine plant – where the car's 1.6-litre petrol engine is built.
And on its arrival in the capital, Business Minister Mark Prisk drove the Fiesta through Westminster in recognition of Ford's investment and manufacturing footprint in Britain.
He said: “It is a great achievement for the UK that nearly a third of all the cars built by Ford globally will have an engine that’s been designed and built by Ford in the UK.
“It is a good example of the UK as a world class manufacturing base that can successfully export all over the world.”
The engines Ford manufactures in Dagenham and Bridgend, engineered at the company’s technical centre in Essex, are being exported around the world.
They power the new generation of Ford vehicles that are designed to be sold worldwide and the UK manufacturing plants are geared-up to produce two million engines a year as well as transmissions and commercial vehicles.
Joe Greenwell, chairman of Ford Britain said: “Ford's UK operations are vital to our global strategy and they draw on an engineering resource that has tremendous potential to expand.
“Just as Ford’s British engines power our business globally, so Britain’s manufacturing sector can power the economy to a sustainable recovery.”
Bridgend is producing the new 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost petrol engine, which offers CO2 and fuel savings of up to 20 per cent compared with conventional petrol-engine technology. It debuts in the new Ford C-MAX range this autumn.
Engines assembled at Ford Dagenham emit as little as 98g CO2/km whilst giving up to 76.3 mpg and feature in Ford's economical Fiesta and Focus ECOnetic models.
ECOnetic technology has also been extended to Ford's commercial vehicles, including the Southampton-produced Transit ECOnetic.