Electric Vehicles Will Be Produced at Michigan Assembly Plant

This comes in addition to Ford’s already announced plans to invest $550 million to transform Michigan Assembly Plant from a large SUV factory to a modern car plant to build the all-new Focus starting in 2010 and Focus Electric pure battery electric vehicle in 2011. With today’s news, Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., will be the production site of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full battery electric vehicles, all of which will be built off the company’s new global C-car platform.

In addition to building the Ford Focus Electric and next-generation hybrid and plug-in hybrid at Michigan Assembly Plant, Ford said it is bringing battery system design and development in-house.

Ford will design advanced lithium-ion battery systems in-house for the next-generation hybrid in Michigan and move production of the battery packs from Mexico to Michigan. The production site will be announced at a later date.

In addition, Ford has announced it will produce hybrid transaxles at its Van Dyke Transmission facility in Sterling Heights, Mich., beginning in 2012.

The Michigan Economic Growth Authority board approved a package of incentives and tax credits totaling $188 million. The package includes job credits, brownfield site credits and battery pack assembly credits recently approved by the Michigan legislature.

The future of electric vehicle manufacturing in Michigan

Ford’s investment and the state’s incentives will create approximately 1,000 new jobs related to the production of the company’s future electric vehicles and the production of key hybrid components, including battery pack assembly. Most of those jobs will be created at Michigan Assembly Plant, which is being transformed to produce fuel-efficient, small global cars.

"Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant is quickly becoming a symbol of transformation on many different levels," said Jim Tetreault, vice president, North America Manufacturing. "Not only will the new facility enable Ford to meet increased market demand for small fuel-efficient cars, it also promises to become the hub of Ford’s advanced technology vehicle manufacturing in Michigan that will benefit the company, the UAW, the state and our customers throughout North America."

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 200,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo.

www.ford.com