Ford is investing more than €750 million (about £673 million) to build the next-generation Ford Kuga medium-sized Sports Utility Vehicle in Valencia, Spain.

The new investment brings the total sum invested in Ford’s Valencia operations to around €3 billion (£2.69 billion) since 2011.

“This major investment of more than €750 million reconfirms in the clearest way our continuing commitment to the Valencia region and to Spain as one of our most important manufacturing locations in Europe,” said Steven Armstrong, president and CEO, Ford of Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“I also want to thank the national government in Madrid and the Generalitat Valenciana for their continued support, and for their ongoing work to maintain a favourable climate for business investment in the Valencia region.”

Employing more than 8,000 people across all of its operations, the new investment will help to secure employment at Ford’s Valencia site. The company says the investment builds on cost efficiency and productivity improvements by the management team, union partners and workforce.

Today, around 25 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold in Europe are SUVs. Kuga accounts for close to 50 percent of Valencia’s vehicle production volume. European sales of the Kuga so far this year at 126,900 are an improvement of 22 percent compared with the same period in 2016. The Kuga is Ford’s third top-selling nameplate in Europe behind the Fiesta and Focus.