Ford announced it has invested a further £125 million in its Halewood Plant on Merseyside, increasing capacity by 70%.

Ford said the move builds on its commitment to grow an all-electric vehicle (EV) range.

It said the investment will help safeguard the 500 high-value Ford jobs at Halewood and upskill them for Ford’s EV future.

“Today’s announcement takes total investment in enabling Halewood’s transformation to an EV component plant to almost £380 million,” said Ford.

“The latest investment – which includes government support from UK Export Finance, through their Export Development Guarantee – will help safeguard the 500 high-value Ford jobs at Halewood and upskill them for Ford’s EV future.”

Kieran Cahill, Ford’s European Industrial Operations vice-president, said:  “Ford is a global American brand, woven into the fabric of Europe for more than 100 years and a major employer here at Halewood for almost 60 years.

“Our vision in Europe is to build a thriving business, by extending leadership in commercial vehicles and through the electrification of our car range.

“Halewood is playing a critical part as our first in-house investment in EV component manufacturing in Europe.”