THE future of Ford’s last British vehicle-assembly plant, the Transit van factory in Southampton, is under threat as it faces competition to build new models from plants in Turkey and Romania.

The Southampton plant, which opened in 1972, employs 1,100 people and makes around 80,000 vehicles a year.

Ford recently began an internal competition between its European plants to build the new Transit model, which will begin production in 2010.

It is understood that the Southampton plant faces tough competition from low-cost plants in Turkey and possibly also Romania, where Ford recently bought a facility from the government.

The bids will undergo a round of assessment next month, a Ford spokesman said yesterday. He added that no decision had been taken on the future of Southampton and that the decision was complicated by the need to produce a wide variety of Transit van types.

Workers at the plant fear the worst. An internal memo, leaked to the local paper, the Southern Daily Echo, painted a gloomy picture.

The memo, from plant manager Martin Chapman, said Ford had “found a number of economic and operating factors that make it very difficult to achieve a level of investment in Southampton that would enable us to continue at current volume levels.

“The Southampton plant is at a critical point in its history and everyone has to do what they can to secure its future, otherwise the Transit will be built elsewhere,” it said.

Ford, which is in the middle of a turnround plan led by chief executive Alan Mulally, has reported big losses as a result of high pension and healthcare costs and lacklustre demand in America.

Last month it reported a record quarterly loss of $8.7 billion (£4.5 billion).

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