Ford Bridgend plant to close in 2020

Blobcat

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I used to go to Bridgend regularly in a previous life, it's going to be very bad for the area :( not a lot of skilled work to replace it with. The push for eco-mentalism isn't doing the infernal combustion engine any favours
 

ajlsl600

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whats new. more expertise getting scattered to the wind. ford,honda,steel industry. we will be a nation of unemployed consumers !!
 

McDonald

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It's just possible that politics have something to do with this. I assume this thread will be deleted.
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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Yes very sad to see a manufacturing facility close but grants alone aren’t enough to keep facilities open we lost control of our car manufacturing industry years ago and consequently have little control of events.

Let’s hope post Brexit we can rekindle our manufacturing base

It will hit the area hard unfortunately
 

noonboots

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They lost the JLR contract and Ford are adequately supplied by Indian and Mexican plants. Any plant making petrol and diesel engines must realise that the writing is the wall for many of them. Only 21 years till everything has to be electric. Reality is that they'll probably be gone in ten. 20 years is the blink of an eye, who remembers the millennium? It seems like a couple of years ago to me.
 

Rob76

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They lost the JLR contract and Ford are adequately supplied by Indian and Mexican plants. Any plant making petrol and diesel engines must realise that the writing is the wall for many of them. Only 21 years till everything has to be electric. Reality is that they'll probably be gone in ten. 20 years is the blink of an eye, who remembers the millennium? It seems like a couple of years ago to me.
As far as i am aware; Ford were desperate to pull out of the deal - Not JLR......
Or so i am told......
 

Frontstep

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You can see why Trump is becoming popular they as we have exported far too many jobs.
A level playing field would be a help.
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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You can see why Trump is becoming popular they as we have exported far too many jobs.
A level playing field would be a help.

Yes couldn’t agree more.

It annoys me how the Liberal Elite dubbed any one complaining about EU immigration as racist it now appears that being nationalistic is next to fascism, embracing the world economy does have consequences
 

ajlsl600

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As far as i am aware; Ford were desperate to pull out of the deal - Not JLR......
Or so i am told......

do you not think, electric is going to get screwed by hydrogen, when the tech is properly sorted.
 

Craiglxviii

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do you not think, electric is going to get screwed by hydrogen, when the tech is properly sorted.
Nope, hydrogen as a fuel on its own is impractical to transport, and fuel cells cannot come down low enough in cost.
 

Craiglxviii

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As far as i am aware; Ford were desperate to pull out of the deal - Not JLR......
Or so i am told......
Correct.
 

Craiglxviii

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They lost the JLR contract and Ford are adequately supplied by Indian and Mexican plants. Any plant making petrol and diesel engines must realise that the writing is the wall for many of them. Only 21 years till everything has to be electric. Reality is that they'll probably be gone in ten. 20 years is the blink of an eye, who remembers the millennium? It seems like a couple of years ago to me.
21 years until electric drivetrains have to be in. Doesn’t mean the cars themselves have no range extender, indeed it’s the way the market is now going.
 

Blobcat

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do you not think, electric is going to get screwed by hydrogen, when the tech is properly sorted.
I’m just waiting until a significant percentage is on electrickery, then the eco-mentalists will suddenly decide that batteries are the work of the devil. They’ll then be taxed until they’re no longer viable - diesel and petrol already having been treated to these policies:mad:. Of course they won’t tax because they’re losing revenue from lack of fuel sales...:rolleyes:
 

ajlsl600

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Nope, hydrogen as a fuel on its own is impractical to transport, and fuel cells cannot come down low enough in cost.

at the moment,yes. longer term i am not convinced. lets see. i might just !
i have no experience of long term use of anything battery powered, and regrettably, plenty of experience of buying new batteries . how much is the replacement battery on johns duracell ? and the so called carbon footprint of manufacture/transport and disposal of the same ? and indeed the rest of the car when batt cost and availability makes keeping the car a daft idea.i think battery cars are just a way of killing the used car market.,and tying us all to 2/4 yr car replacement costs. batteries decay , is the design life 8.1 yr? and will it even get to the corner shop in the last yrs of its design life.. i admit that johns duracell is indeed a very smart motor ,i went to look at them in may and as batt/fuel run represents the best of the compromises ,at the moment . they will make cheaper,more efficient batteries but right now they often cant make simple sensors last much more than the warranty, so cheaper/more efficient ,dont nearly mean more reliable.
 
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LostKiwi

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Given the current push to buy new cars is based on banning older vehicles from using certain areas/roads and on emission taxation once we all drive zero emissions vehicles how will the governments push us to carry on consuming?
It's in the government's best interests to have us continually replace cars - they get VAT from the sale, they get income tax from employees, corporation tax from businesses (where businesses actually pay it) etc.
It strikes me the only way consumerism can be "encouraged' is by manufacturers designing in obsolescence or ever greater levels of gadgetry that can go wrong.
The only other option is to change the whole car ownership model to one of leading (PCPs are already the thin end of that wedge).
In the IT world there has been a drive to make everything "as a service". Software as a service, storage as a service, platform as a service are all part of regular IT strategy. Amazon has built a very successful business on these offerings. How long before we see transport as a service where we subscribe to a manufacturers offerings on a demand/leasing arrangement?
Think driverless Uber where you call up your subscription class of vehicle when required and it drives itself to you?
No requirement for driveways (though you'll still need a garage for all that junk that prevents you putting your car in there at present). No parked cars blocking access to housing estates. No NCPs as once you get dropped of at your destination the car goes on to it's next customer.
Once driverless cars become commonplace I would expect the whole way we use cars change dramatically and in a way that will challenge governments to find new ways to tax us. In many ways I doubt our current political systems will cope.
 

John Laidlaw

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at the moment,yes. longer term i am not convinced. lets see. i might just !
i have no experience of long term use of anything battery powered, and regrettably, plenty of experience of buying new batteries . how much is the replacement battery on johns duracell ? and the so called carbon footprint of manufacture/transport and disposal of the same ? and indeed the rest of the car when batt cost and availability makes keeping the car a daft idea.i think battery cars are just a way of killing the used car market.,and tying us all to 2/4 yr car replacement costs. batteries decay , is the design life 8.1 yr? and will it even get to the corner shop in the last yrs of its design life.. i admit that johns duracell is indeed a very smart motor ,i went to look at them in may and as batt/fuel run represents the best of the compromises ,at the moment . they will make cheaper,more efficient batteries but right now they often cant make simple sensors last much more than the warranty, so cheaper/more efficient ,dont nearly mean more reliable.
Just to pick up on the battery replacement costs. As you’ve probably read, BMW have an 8 year warranty on the battery cells, the research I did before buying suggested 12- 15 years is possible. Not really an issue for me as I’m very unlikely to keep it that long- retirement in the next 3,5,7 years is coming then the ‘fleet’ will be drastically reviewed.
Battery cells are currently c£800 each and the i8 has 6. Current thoughts are that the cost will decrease quite substantially , so even if I have the car in 10 years (as said unlikely- but next owner will be interested), then looking at an overhaul maybe 5-6k cost. Not bad for a supercar in which I’m averaging 60 mpg all in....
 


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