No more AutoAlliance...

 

Good news for the plant and the area. Lots of construction going on down there right now.

 

 

Thanks for that, TN, very interesting

 

Still really interested how the Fusion capacity at Flat Rock will be used. Hoping its for a Fusion SHO

 

I was watching Bloomburg News and they were interviewing a Ford guy about the Ecnoboost engine. They were talking about how great it was for trucks and they also mention that Flat Rock was going to hire 1200 more people by next year. I didn't catch the whole thing but supposedly the whole interview will air tonight.


Joe C.

 

I got this picture off the Facebook.

 

They're ramping up for the Fusion is what I read.

 

During the Mustang Alley Plant tour one of the Ford folks mentioned that he thought that the Fusion SE would be built in Flat Rock with the Titanium production in Mexico, didn't sound like a sure thing though.

Sounds like the new Paint shop will be state of the art.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/money/...x/-/index.html

 

Could be, I've heard those in the know say that Hybrid and Energi production would "have" to stay in Mexico to keep those models in the black. But recently it sounds more like Flat Rock will favor higher-trim cars, since their higher transaction prices help compensate for the higher labor costs.

 

Article in the Detroit News said gas powered Fusions will be built here, the hybrid and electric versions will be built in Mexico.

Just curious why they chose FRAP to build the Fusion there. It's a bit smaller than the outgoing Mazda6, but I'm not sure how close it and the current Mustang are.

 

Likely to make the business case for keeping that plant open.

 

Being that the Fusion and Mazda 6 are the same chassis it makes sense for for to build the Fusion where the Mazda 6 was being made.

 

FRAP... too bad Flat Rock wasn't one word...

Nice to see this official.

 

The 09-12 Mazda6 and Fusion were not the same. The former rode on a slightly stretched platform known as CD3-2. The Mazda had more rear legroom and trunk space than the outgoing Fusion.

Pete, I thought the same thing. FAP! Lol.

 

At least its not like working for Research In Motion.
People in Waterloo will punch you in the face if you ask them how they got the R.I.M. job.

 

http://mustangsdaily.com/blog/2012/0...gside-mustang/

 

Not anymore, 2013 Fusion does not share parts with Mazda.

 

Flat Rock is the first of the flexible plants, and while it has had its issues they were able to build the completely unrelated Mustang and Mazda 6 alongside one another without a ton of issues. With Mazda taking the 6 back home, and not wanting to move Mustang at this time, FRAP was the obvious choice for a US-built Fusion.

 

The other glaring obvious situation was that it was Ford's most underutilized US plant. Even with the Mazda6 production, they were running one shift, and still only turning out about 120,000 units a year between the two vehicles. Adding the Fusion dramatically changes the landscape of the plant, and sets them up for success in the short term.