Ford representatives had an offer to hand out and were very familiar with the company’s work.
“They were pleased with the equipment and advised us where to improve,” Zavarache said, adding his feeling was the car maker is in the cards for a future deal. Ford’s two representatives will inform an office in Germany and once they get greenlight on the move, the car parts maker will go through an audit. Then a contract could be inked, the director said.
Zavarache said he does not know what kind of spare parts the company will provide Ford. Yet, a likely contract with the American giant is a godsend considering the difficult situation the company is going through because of the economic downturn.
Orders at Electroprecizia halved over the end of September last year. The engine producer registered 1.36 million euros losses last year, after a 64,000 lei profit in 2007. Some 200 employees are also on the verge of dismissal owing to the dim perspective regarding production.
The company has a share capital of 42.49 million lei and is listed on the Rasdaq over-the-counter market.
Ford recently took over the Daewoo factory in Craiova, paying the Romanian government 57 million euros for 72.4 percent of the shares. Production was scheduled to begin in 2009.
While the first vehicle heralded for the middle of next year is Ford Transit Connect, it is hoped that 2010 will see a new small category model, only manufactured in Craiova.
The American company estimated that by 2012, it will produce 300,000 vehicles and as many engines every year, with adjoining expenditures to climb to 1 billion euros. The number of employees should also increase gradually from 3,900 to 7,000.
However, Ford was seriously affected by the economic crisis and had to trim production on ebbing sales
