Ford is planning to start the production of the new B-Max at a plant in Romania thanks to a huge loan provided by the European Investment Bank. The vice president of Ford Europe says that the company is getting a $562 million loan, the agreement for which has already been signed last week.

The government guarantee for the money will be valid for five years. The risk commission is set for 2% a year. The Prime Minister of the bank hopes that the loan will help Ford to work more in the country and expand the production which means higher employment rate and more industrial development in Romania.

Ford has become the main share-holder of the Craiova plant in 2007. In the beginning the company owned 72.4% of the facility stake, but later it was increased to 90%. The automaker started the production with the Transit Connect and promised that the next vehicle will be a small car.

B-Max was introduced at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show. It is a small crossover based on Ford Fiesta. The original name was Iosis Max concept, but later it was changed. So far Ford is planning to assemble about 20,000-30,000 small cars in 2010 at the Craiova plant.