Ford has announced that it will almost halve its investment in its factory in Bridgend.

The car manufacturer has set aside almost £181 million for the production of new generation petrol engines; however it now says that it will invest just £100 million.

The new line will also produce 125,000 engines rather than the initially proposed 250,000 but the company says that this is because of a change in the anticipated market demand.

However, Ford insists that this will not result in job losses and says that it still has a significant commitment to the plant, which opened in 1980 and has secured a total of £2.8 billion in investments to date.

At present, the facility produces 250,000 engines for Jaguar Land Rover every year, however that will be discontinued in two years’ time.

Production of the new engine is also set to commence in 2018, however the scaled down operations means that 550 workers will be needed rather than the initial 750 that were anticipated. Ford says that the other 200 workers are to be used in different areas of the plant.

A spokesman for Ford said that because of the success of the company’s other advanced technology engines, including the 1.0 litre EcoBoost petrol engine, and the anticipated changes in demand in Europe and other markets, they are now expecting the global volume of new engines to be less than originally planned.

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies, said: At this stage it is reassuring that no job losses are planned but clarity and longer-term assurances must be provided to the workforce that this announcement will not affect Ford’s commitment to the area.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates says that Production cuts at the Ford engine plant in Bridgend show the need for the UK to keep free trade with Europe after Brexit.