HORSE starts the production of 1.2-litre engine in Romania

HORSE (Renault Group and Geely), a global leader in powertrain systems, starts the manufacturing and assembly of its 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder gasoline engine (HR12) at its plant in Mioveni, Romania.

The most efficient engine among the HORSE product portfolio and the most powerful produced at HORSE Romania, the HR12 is used in several vehicles, including hybrids.

The beginning of production in Mioveni supplements HORSE’s global capacity for the HR12 engine, with engines produced in Romania to be installed in new Dacia Duster models. The HORSE Valladolid factory in Spain will continue to produce the engine for the Renault Austral and Espace models.

Patrice Haettel, Chief Executive Officer of HORSE, said: “We have started the production of the HR12 engine at our factory in Romania, building upon our ongoing assembly of the engine in Valladolid, Spain. It is part of a global strategy that provides us with unprecedented scale and competitiveness due to our proximity to key markets. This manufacturing agreement is good news for HORSE, for the Mioveni plant and, above all, for the market”.

HORSE has extensively invested in the Mioveni facility to enable HR12 production. On the assembly line more than 75 per cent of existing workstations have been modified and 24 new workstations installed. As a result, the full production lifecycle – including the casting and the finishing of the cylinder blocks – will be completely in-house.

HORSE has also invested in advanced testing and quality assurance capabilities in Mioveni, including a helium leak testing system, a CT scanner for cylinder blocks, and high-pressure washing and drying machines.

As a result of these investments, the company expects the newly installed capacity to produce 450,000 engines per year. 18 per cent of production will be exported outside of the EU to HORSE’s Bursa plant in Turkey.