Next-Gen Ford Fusion Joining Mustang at Flat Rock Plant
10/5/11, 01:24 PM
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Next-Gen Ford Fusion Joining Mustang at Flat Rock Plant
http://wot.motortrend.com/ford-bring...an-123389.html
Under the new tentative labor agreement between Ford and the United Auto Workers union, the next-generation Ford Fusion and Mustang will be built at Ford’s facility in Flat Rock, Michigan. The plant’s future was previously in limbo after Mazda announced that production of the Mazda 6 at Flat Rock would cease. According to the Detroit Free Press, Ford will invest $555 million in tooling and equipment at the Flat Rock plant. The AutoAlliance International, Inc. facility opened in 1987 as a joint venture between Ford and Mazda. It currently builds the present generation Ford Mustang and Mazda 6, and employs 1763 people.
The Ford Fusion is currently built in Hermosillo, Mexico, but Ford expects continuing high demand for the car — and especially the next-generation sedan — will justify adding more production in Michigan. Through September 2011, sales of the Fusion are up 16.6 percent compared to the first nine months of 2010.
Even so, the Free Press reports that Flat Rock’s assembly system will be easily adaptable to produce any vehicle on a mid- or full-size car platform.
In addition to the Fusion and Mustang, the UAW says that its new agreement with Ford will bring the Transit commercial van to Ford’s plant in Kansas City, Missouri; the C-Max minivan to Wayne, Michigan; a medium-duty truck to Avon Lake, Ohio; and an “unnamed” vehicle and the 2012 Escape to Louisville, Kentucky. That reportedly adds up to a $16 billion investment by 2015, of which $6.3 billion will be spent to retool and upgrade assembly plants.
Under the new tentative labor agreement between Ford and the United Auto Workers union, the next-generation Ford Fusion and Mustang will be built at Ford’s facility in Flat Rock, Michigan. The plant’s future was previously in limbo after Mazda announced that production of the Mazda 6 at Flat Rock would cease. According to the Detroit Free Press, Ford will invest $555 million in tooling and equipment at the Flat Rock plant. The AutoAlliance International, Inc. facility opened in 1987 as a joint venture between Ford and Mazda. It currently builds the present generation Ford Mustang and Mazda 6, and employs 1763 people.
The Ford Fusion is currently built in Hermosillo, Mexico, but Ford expects continuing high demand for the car — and especially the next-generation sedan — will justify adding more production in Michigan. Through September 2011, sales of the Fusion are up 16.6 percent compared to the first nine months of 2010.
Even so, the Free Press reports that Flat Rock’s assembly system will be easily adaptable to produce any vehicle on a mid- or full-size car platform.
In addition to the Fusion and Mustang, the UAW says that its new agreement with Ford will bring the Transit commercial van to Ford’s plant in Kansas City, Missouri; the C-Max minivan to Wayne, Michigan; a medium-duty truck to Avon Lake, Ohio; and an “unnamed” vehicle and the 2012 Escape to Louisville, Kentucky. That reportedly adds up to a $16 billion investment by 2015, of which $6.3 billion will be spent to retool and upgrade assembly plants.
10/5/11, 03:36 PM
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There's some interesting speculation going on about how much Fusion production will show up at AAI. Fusion sells very, very well in South America but there are massive trade tariffs (akin to the US's own "Chicken Tax") preventing cars made in the US from competing in places like Brazil. So some Fusions will still be built in Hermasillo for sure. MKZ is rumored to be coming 100% to AAI to help its brand image, so some are speculating that the Fusions built alongside them would be the higher-end models only. That would also make sense for Ford's bottom line, since the lower-margin base models would be benefiting from lower labor costs.
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