Fords factory is actually in Eastleigh, like the airport, yet Southampton lay claim; however, it is very sad when some years ago we had to time our car trips so they did not coincide with the workers shifts at the Fords factory, the exodus of 1000's of workers could put at least an hour on our journey home (less than 4 miles). The move to Turkey was on the books last year when we heard that the new factory in Turkey was being built, Turkish workers were queueing at the doors for the £1000+ a month wage offered.
Eastleigh was once the home to many 1000's of workers in the Railways Works, now just a handful, and the council had the cheek a few years back to erect a statue of a railway worker stating it depicted the town's roots!
Eastleigh also had a large Pirelli cabling factory, the work force now gone, the land is now home to 100 and 100's of new homes.
All this gone in less than 10years, but I guess that is progress, and we are officially now out of a recession