Ford Starts The Redesign Of Its Niehl Assembly Plant To Create The Cologne Electrification Center

  • Ford has begun construction work for the company’s new Cologne Electrification Center
  • Redesign of the Niehl plant, Cologne, will support production of a future, volume all-electric vehicle
  • Redevelopment of the facility will be completed by 2023

Initial construction work is now underway to transform Ford’s Niehl assembly plant in Cologne, Germany, into the new Cologne Electrification Center.

Developers have demolished a decommissioned structure at the site to make way for a new high-tech building that will be used for the preparation of vehicle bodies during assembly of a new, volume all-electric model.

The redevelopment of the Niehl plant is a significant step towards helping Ford achieve its plans for a fully-electric future. The Cologne Electrification Center – complete with the latest automotive manufacturing technologies – will be ready to begin production in 2023.

The challenging project will require architects to construct the approximately 26-metre-high, 25‑metre-wide, and 100‑metre-long structure in an area already densely populated with buildings, and on which vehicles have been assembled since 1931. The new building will span one of the main traffic avenues through the Niehl site.

The demolition of the decommissioned structure was scheduled for the Niehl plant’s summer shutdown to ensure that the removal of 5,000 cubic metres of debris would not hinder ongoing vehicle production. The new building itself will be completed by the end of July 2022, with the installation of machinery following soon after.

“I am excited to see that we have begun the transformation our plant into the Cologne Electrification Center, said Gunnar Herrmann, Chairman of the Management Board of Ford-Werke GmbH, at a local meeting. “This is an important milestone for our German manufacturing footprint and will make us the first Ford plant in Europe to volume-build all-electric vehicles off the line.”

Source: Ford, https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2021/08/18/ford-starts-the-redesign-of-its-niehl-assembly-plant-to-create-t.html

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