Ford Transit van factory closes
Production of the iconic van moves to Turkey, resulting in a loss of more than 500 jobs
The final Ford Transit has rolled off the production line at Ford’s factory in Southampton.
The Swaythling plant’s closure was announced last October, alongside plans to shift production of the iconic van to Turkey, where costs are “significantly lower” than in the UK, according to Ford.
The Transit has been manufactured at Swaythling for more than 40 years, during which time two million vans have been produced.
Ford says that the majority of the 531 workers employed by the factory have taken voluntary redundancy. 134 have been employed at Ford’s new vehicle refurbishing plant at Swaythling, 41 have been redeployed to other areas of the firm’s business and some have taken early retirement.
The company has also shut down a stamping and tooling operation in Dagenham, affecting a further 750 jobs.
