Ford will sell Romanian plant to Turkish JV

ISTANBUL -- Ford Motor's Turkish joint venture will buy Ford's Craiova plant in Romania for 575 million euros ($630 million).

Ford Otosan was already set to boost annual production capacity to 650,000 from 455,000 with a 2 billion-euro ($2.2 billion) investment plan, with production of the next Transit Custom van staring next year along with a version for Volkswagen.

The output will eventually rise to 900,000 units per year with the addition of Craiova into the joint venture.

Ford Otosan will begin output of the new Transit Custom van in Turkey starting in 2023, including full-electric and hybrid variants along with the combustion-engined version.

The joint venture will also build a version for Volkswagen, badged as the Transporter, as part of a strategic alliance between the two companies. 

Ford will move output of the new Transit Courier and Tourneo Courier vans to Craiova from Turkey in 2023, with all-electric versions coming in 2024. The Craiova plant currently produces Puma and EcoSport passenger cars.

Ford Otosan will likely finance the Craiova acquisition with bank loans, CEO Haydar Yenigun told a press conference on Monday. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter pending a regulatory review.

Ford on Monday also announced plans, together with Korean battery maker SK On and Koc Holding, to form a joint venture to produce EV batteries in Turkey.

Bloomberg contributed to this report