Ford says it will invest more than $870 million to build the next-generation Ford Kuga medium-sized Sports Utility Vehicle in Valencia, Spain.

The investment brings the total sum invested in Ford’s Valencia operations to around $3.5 billion since 2011.

Ford says the investment builds on cost efficiency and productivity improvements by the management team, union partners and workforce.

Kuga accounts for close to 50 percent of Valencia’s vehicle production volume. European sales of Kuga as of November were 126,900, a 22 percent improvement compared with the same period in 2016. Kuga is Ford’s third top-selling nameplate in Europe behind the Fiesta and Focus.

Further details concerning the new investment announcement and the next-generation Kuga will be made closer to launch.

In addition to the Kuga, Valencia is the sole source of production for the Tourneo Connect people-mover and Transit Connect light commercial vehicles, and for the Mondeo, S-MAX and Galaxy models.

Valencia builds more nameplates and vehicles by volume than any other Ford plant in Europe. Around 90 percent of Valencia’s vehicle production is exported to more than 75 countries worldwide, including the United States.