Ford Sollers, a joint venture between US based automaker Ford and the Russian Sollers has commenced production of engines at its new engine plant, Ford Sollers Elabuga Engine Plant in Elabuga, Russia.
The new Russian facility will manufacture three versions of the 1.6-litre Duratec engine, which will be used in at least 30% of Russian-built Ford vehicles including Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, and Ford EcoSport.
The three versions of the 1.6-litre, normally aspirated Duratec gasoline engine will have 85 PS, 105 PS and 125 PS power levels.
According to Ford Sollers, the engines are lightweight, durable, economical and with low noise and emissions.
Ford invested $275m for building the plant, which has an annual capacity of 105,000 units. In future the plant is capable of boosting its production to 200,000 engines a year.
Ford Sollers executive director Adil Shirinov said: "Our main target in line with our long-term localization strategy was to launch engine production with a significant level of localization.
"We are proud to say that we are not only sourcing main parts from Russian companies, but they also are manufactured from local raw materials.
"We are fully committed to this strategy which is key for our business in the current environment."
