Supporting the electrification of the automotive industry in Romania
According to the European Environment Agency*, the transport sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of Europe's greenhouse gas emissions.
Moreover, road transport constitutes the highest proportion of overall transport emissions - emitting 76% of all EU’s transport GHG emissions in 2021.
Reducing transport emissions is all the more vital to meeting the European Union’s climate neutrality objectives. As a majority of existing and planned measures in the Member States focus on road transport, this share is expected to decrease as road transport decarbonises faster than other transport modes.
In this context, electric cars, which include battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), are gradually penetrating the EU market, with a steady increase in the number of new electric car registrations from 600 in 2010, to about 1,74 million in 2021 (European Environment Agency). And these figures are steadily on the rise.
However, despite huge growth in recent years, further growth in Europe’s electric vehicle fleet will be necessary to help the EU meet emissions reduction targets and make progress in reaching its 2050 objective of climate neutrality.
Supporting our client’s development and transition
As part of Ford’s global electrification ambitions, Ford Otosanis investing in its Craiova plant in Romania to boost production of next-generation vehicles. Ford Otosan Romania SRL, a subsidiary of Ford Otosan A.Ş., signed a 435m EUR Term Loan Facility with a 7-year maturity to help finance Ford Otosan's next-generation Ford Transit Courier and Ford Tourney Courier ranges, and the new Puma launch, as well as full electric variants of these ranges.
With this investment, the Craiova plant, which is the production hub of Ford’s best-selling passenger vehicles in Europe, will play an instrumental role in the company’s global electrification ambitions.
Societe Generale and its Romanian subsidiary BRD acted as Coordinating Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners in the deal in which an important pool of international and Romanian banks participated.
Our Craiova plant plays a significant role in Ford Otosan's leadership in electric commercial vehicle manufacturing in Europe and in realising our commercial vehicle growth plans. We are pleased to announce the signing of a syndicated credit agreement to finance ongoing facility, vehicle, and engineering investment projects at the Craiova Plant to achieve our growth plans in Europe. This credit is a strategic step highlighting the importance of Craiova in Ford Otosan's future plans. We thank Societe Generale, BRD and all banks in the syndicate for their confidence in and contributions to the future of Ford Otosan and for their collaboration.
We are proud to demonstrate our support to the expansion of Turkish companies to wider Europe along with their efforts towards more sustainable next-generation technologies. The transaction reflects Societe Generale group’s support to energy transition and stands as an important step towards furthering our long-standing relationship with Ford Otosan, the Koç Holding and Ford Motor Company groups.
We are pleased to finance this important project which is a significant step towards the electrification of the automotive industry in Romania. We have all necessary resources, know-how and experience to support key projects for the Romanian economy, such as the one being developed by Ford Otosan Craiova.