(July 11, 2012) LONDON — Consistently high output at Ford Dagenham over the last 50 years has propelled production at the East London engine site past the milestone of 40 million engines — enough to stretch 20,000 miles, or four fifths of the way around the globe, when placed end to end.

Ford Dagenham, which has been engineering and manufacturing engines since 1931, now specializes in fuel-efficient diesel engines for Ford’s small, medium, and large car ranges, as well as featuring prominently in Ford’s commercial vehicles.  Over 50 per cent of global Ford diesel engine demand is supplied by Dagenham.

Dagenham-built engines have powered many famous Ford vehicles including the Ford Escort, Cortina, Capri, Granada, and Transit models. Today engines from Ford’s largest UK plant power the best-selling vehicles in Britain — the Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus and Ford Transit.

Joe Greenwell, Ford Britain chairman, said: “Dagenham producing 40 million engines is a significant milestone for Ford’s biggest UK site.  Ford Dagenham now produces Ford’s most fuel-efficient engine in the 1.6-liter TDCi unit and exports to 12 countries around the world as part of our global ‘One Ford’ strategy.  This site is helping to power the UK's sustainable economic recovery.”

Production for Ford vehicles accounts for around 70 per cent of Dagenham’s output, with the balance comprising over 270,000 engines for Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Volvo.

Total production of gas engines from Ford Bridgend in Wales and diesel engines from Ford Dagenham is sufficient to power one-in-three of Ford vehicles produced globally. These two plants have a total combined UK production capacity of two million engines, of which over 85 per cent are exported.

Ford Dagenham is increasing the number of engines and parts shipped to Argentina, Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, North America, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and The Philippines – further boosting Dagenham's production of engines.

In 2003 an additional plant was opened at Ford Dagenham — the wind-powered Dagenham Diesel Centre – following an investment of £325m. The plant supports over 300 highly skilled design and engineering roles in addition to hundreds of specialized manufacturing positions. Dagenham’s low-CO2 facility produces over 2,500 engines per day and 600,000 per year, accounting for more than 50 per cent of the total annual Dagenham engine production of 1,000,000 engines.