The wind-powered Dagenham Diesel Centre (DDC) is celebrating the successful launch of a new line to produce low-carbon 1.4 and 1.6-litre Duratorq TDCi turbo diesel engines ¨C the result of a £130 million investment programme.

Production of the larger engine is now underway, with the 1.4-litre unit to be added in June.  These high technology diesel engines power the most fuel efficient versions of the Ford Fiesta, the Ford Fusion, the Ford Focus and the Ford C-MAX.  Within the wider Ford family, these engines are also used in Volvo and Mazda models.

This additional production capacity at Dagenham is needed to satisfy rising demand for the high technology diesel engines that are part of the ongoing cooperative agreement between Ford Motor Company and PSA Peugeot Citroën. Around 250 extra assembly operators to date have been employed at the DDC in readiness for the start of production.
 
Total engine production output on the Ford Dagenham estate will rise to 1,000,000 units a year by 2009 with the addition of these engines.  By then 1.4 and 1.6-litre production capacity will be 575,000.  The balance will be accounted for by the estate's existing 1.8, 2.0, 2.2 and 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine ranges, plus the 2.7-litre V6 diesel engine for Jaguar, Land Rover and PSA Peugeot Citroën and the 3.6-litre V8 diesel engine produced for Land Rover.

The 1.4 and 1.6-litre units will be built in the DDC's Clean Room Assembly Hall, which boasts the sterile conditions required to produce today's high-tech diesel engines.  Air supply to the Clean Room Assembly Hall is filtered and controlled to minimize airborne dust particles that could interfere with engine assembly.

Dave Parker, plant manager, said:  "This new engine output for Ford Dagenham reinforces that Britain is a good place to do manufacturing business.  Key to this success story has been the teamwork which secured this multi-million pound investment and then got production started in record time."

In a Ford Fiesta, Dagenham's new 1.6-litre engine produces only 116 grammes of CO2 per kilometre.  Drivers' shift to diesel cars led to a 24 per cent rise last year in engine assembly at Dagenham ¨C Ford's global centre for diesel engineering and manufacture.