Freelander 2 saves Halewood
Oct 25 2006
Ford Halewood was saved this week amid earlier fears that the company would completely disappear from Merseyside, the launch of the Freelander 2 by Land Rover has secured the future of plant workers for a minimum of 9 years. Ford recently announcing quarterly losses in the region of £3.1bn, leading chief exec Alan Mulally admits the global group is under a very watchful eye. This includes the major possibility of offering other car plants as lenders security, this would improve liquidity and the possible sale price of Jaguar & Land Rover.
Both marques Jaguar & Land Rover are part of Ford Premier Auto Group these are both manufactured at Halewood.
However the quality of Jaguar has dramatically improved since spreading production from the West Midlands to Halewood. The Jaguar X-Type in 2001 started production at Halewood the new Freelander was moved to Merseyside also. The US comapny hope it's global reputation for world class quality could influence Ford management to retain both types.
A Ford Spokesman said "The launch of the new Freelander at Halewood is recognition of the commitment of members in developing world-class skills that are able to see Halewood excel.
"Tony Woodley, general secretary TGWU, said: "In an ever-competitive, and cutthroat market the ability of the UK car industry to compete on the basis of quality of production by a highly skilled workforce is critical.
Background
Halewood is the only Ford site that globally manufactures 2 separate car models on the same production line - It will produce four Freelander 2 models for each Jaguar X-Type. The plant was awarded JD Power European gold award for outstanding quality.
Over the previous 3 years the plant has topped the worldwide internal audit for high quality manufacturing, the plant is seen as a perfect example of best practice.
This achievement opened Halewood Learning Academy, a location where many Ford Europe PAG sites, and suppliers, learn a range of techniques undertaken by the Merseyside factory. |
