Ford has issued a statement following reports it is considering building a "new generation" of electric transmission systems at its Merseyside plant that would involve a potential investment of hundreds of millions of pounds.
It is believed the car giant is to decide over whether to choose the firm's Halewood site over another location in Germany - with an announcement due in a matter of weeks.
The factory currently makes transmission systems but the new 'Etrans' systems will become a crucial part of electric vehicle manufacturing. Like all other automotive giants, the firm is switching to all-electric vehicle production by 2030.
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Ford has now spoken out following Sky News and the Telegraph reports over the move, which would be a huge boost to the UK car industry - and possibly safeguard the 500 jobs on site.
The reports follow July's news that Vauxhall is set to invest £100m into manufacturing new electric vehicles at its nearby Ellesmere Port plant - and Nissan announcing just days before that it is to build a gigafactory in Sunderland as part of a £1bn investment.
A statement from Ford said: “Ford is going ‘all-in’ on electrification, with 100% of our passenger vehicles being all-electric and two-thirds of our commercial vehicle sales expected to be all-electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030.
"We will provide more details about the actions we are taking to strengthen further our electrification plans across Europe at the appropriate time but have nothing further to add today.”
Earlier this year, Ford marked a "historic" moment as it took back full control of the Halewood transmission plant in a move said to protect hundreds of jobs.
According to the reports, Ford would be expected to commit hundreds of millions of pounds to the project to build the new eTrans production site.
As yet, it's not known whether the automotive giant will ask the Government for financial support, as was the case with the recent Vauxhall and Nissan announcements, although reports indicate talks with the Department for Business have begun.
