Total engine production output on the Ford Dagenham estate will rise to 1,000,000 units a year by 2009 with the addition of these engines. By then 1.4 and 1.6-litre production capacity will be 575,000. The balance will be accounted for by the estate's existing 1.8, 2.0, 2.2 and 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine ranges, plus the 2.7-litre V6 diesel engine for Jaguar, Land Rover and PSA Peugeot Citroën and the 3.6-litre V8 diesel engine produced for Land Rover.

The 1.4 and 1.6-litre units will be built in the DDC's Clean Room Assembly Hall, which boasts the sterile conditions required to produce today's high-tech diesel engines. Air supply to the Clean Room Assembly Hall is filtered and controlled to minimize airborne dust particles that could interfere with engine assembly.

Dave Parker, plant manager, said: "This new engine output for Ford Dagenham reinforces that Britain is a good place to do manufacturing business. Key to this success story has been the teamwork which secured this multi-million pound investment and then got production started in record time."

In a Ford Fiesta, Dagenham's new 1.6-litre engine produces only 116 grammes of CO2 per kilometre. Drivers' shift to diesel cars led to a 24 per cent rise last year in engine assembly at Dagenham �C Ford's global centre for diesel engineering and manufacture.