SALON

Monday, Sep 10, 2012 7:00 PM UTC

Ford to add 1,200 workers at Detroit-area plant

By

Topics: From the Wires,

FLAT ROCK, Mich. (AP) — Ford is adding 1,200 workers to a suburban Detroit factory to build the Fusion, a sign of confidence that the revamped sedan will be a big hit when it goes on sale this fall.

The Fusion is already Ford’s best-selling vehicle after the F-Series pickup. Ford hopes to grab even more buyers with the 2013 Fusion, which has improved fuel economy and a sharper, more chiseled design.

Ford Americas President Mark Fields told workers at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant Monday that the midsize car segment is growing two times faster than the rest of the U.S. auto industry. The Fusion is one of the top sellers in that segment, behind the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima.

“I can’t underestimate how important the Fusion is to Ford,” Fields told hundreds of workers gathered on the plant’s lawn for a ceremony with U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and others. “It’s an all-out battle for the American garage, and Ford is in it to fight to win.”

Ford and other automakers have been hiring at a rapid pace to keep up with U.S. sales, which are expected to increase by 1.5 million this year over the 12.8 million sold in 2011. Solis said the U.S. auto industry is in the midst of its strongest growth period since 1996.

Ford Motor Co. will hire the workers for a second shift at Flat Rock next spring. Some of them will be new, but others will be workers who were laid off at other Ford plants, Fields said. The company will also invest $555 million in new equipment at the 25-year-old plant to make the Fusion. Currently, the plant has around 1,700 workers on one shift making the Ford Mustang.

Ford has only made Fusions in Mexico until now. But labor contracts passed in 2007 and 2011 lowered Ford’s U.S. costs, and the company promised to move some production from Mexico to the U.S.

The Flat Rock plant was owned by Mazda Motor Corp. from 1987 to 1992, when it became a joint venture with Ford. Mazda still owns half the plant, but stopped building cars there last month and has ceded operational control to Ford. Ford is already paying all of the plant’s workers.

Fields said Ford and Mazda are still in discussions about the future of the plant. He wouldn’t say whether Ford wants to buy Mazda’s 50-percent share.

More Dee-ann Durbin.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • A missing poster hangs on a tree outside the Cleveland home of Amanda Berry Wednesday. Berry and two other women, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, made a daring escape this week after being held captive for more than a decade.
    Credit: AP/Tony Dejak

  • Elvis Rafael Rodriguez and Emir Yasser Yeje offer their best impression of  Eric B. & Rakim. On Thursday, New York prosecutors identified the pair as members of an international gang that robbed $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and draining ATM machines around the world.
    Credit: AP

  • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks to a podium during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Technology Enhanced Accelerated Learning Center at Essex County Newark Tech in Newark, N.J., Tuesday. Christie made less flattering headlines this week after undergoing a secret stomach surgery to curb his weight.
    Credit: AP/Julio Cortez

  • Workers stand outside the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday after a fire broke out in its 11-story building. Eight people were killed in the blaze.
    Credit: AP/Ismail Ferdous

  • Workers rescue a woman trapped for 17 days in the rubble of a garment factory building in Saver, Bangladesh, Friday. The building's collapse was the worst industrial disaster in the country's history, killing more than 1,000 people.
    Credit: AP

  • Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford gives his victory speech Tuesday in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., after winning back his old congressional seat in the state's first district.
    Credit: AP/Rainier Ehrhardt

  • Jodi Arias reacts in Maricopa Country Superior Court Wednesday after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the gruesome killing of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Arias has subsequently said she wants the death penalty, claiming she'd "prefer to die sooner than later."
    Credit: AP/The Arizona Republic/Rob Schumacher

  • Ariel Castro stands for his mug shot Thursday at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, where he is being held on $8 million bail. The former bus driver is accused of imprisoning three young women and beating them repeatedly over a period of 10 years.
    Credit: AP/Cuyahoga County

  • Charles Ramsey addresses the media Monday after helping rescue three women held captive in Cleveland for more than a decade. Ramsey's hero portraiture has been complicated by revelations of his own domestic violence record.
    Credit: AP/The Plain Dealer/Scott Shaw

  • Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force, testifies during a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday. The military branch was rocked this week after its chief sexual assault prevention officer was charged with sexual battery.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations