Ford announces $866 million investment in home state
BYLINE: By JAMES PRICHARD, AP Business Writer
DATELINE: LIVONIA Mich.
Ford Motor Co. announced in August that it would invest up to $1 billion in its Michigan operations.
It came pretty close to that on Tuesday, with company officials saying more is still to come.
Ford said it will spend $866 million to upgrade six Detroit-area operations. The automaker also will receive state incentives of up to $151 million, and that amount could be matched or even surpassed by local governments.
The investments in flexible manufacturing and advanced powertrain production will help Dearborn-based Ford grow its small-car lineup, produce more fuel-efficient transmissions and install additional equipment for truck manufacturing, officials said.
"Michigan is our home, and here we're giving our plants and our people an opportunity to be the best and to build the best vehicles in the world," Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, said during a news conference at the Livonia Transmission Plant.
The factory is one of the sites that Ford will be upgrading.
The maximum $151 million in tax abatements and other incentives being provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. is based on Ford's billion-dollar commitment and is the first major multisite incentive package ever offered by the state.
"There is no vision of Michigan's economy that does not include Ford cars and trucks designed, engineered and produced right here in Michigan," said MEDC President James Epolito.
Local governments also have offered, or are considering offering, another $150 million to $170 million in incentives.
The $866 million being put up by Ford will be spent at the Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant, Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights, Woodhaven Stamping Plant, Dearborn Stamping Plant, the Truck Plant and Glass Plant at the Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn and the Livonia plant.
United Auto Workers officials who took part in the news conference said they were excited about what was happening.
"We are just beginning to see what the future holds for Ford and the UAW," said John Caizza, president and chairman of UAW Local 182, which represents hourly production workers at the Livonia plant.
The 2.8 million-square-foot complex, built in 1952, produced almost 1 million rear-wheel drive transmissions last year, Ford said. The plant has 1,910 hourly and 225 salaried workers.
The company will invest $88 million to install flexible tooling to increase its production of a six-speed, rear-wheel-drive transmission for the 2009 Ford F-150 pickup truck.
Jack Engebretson, mayor of Livonia, a city of about 100,000 residents 15 miles west of Detroit, called the announcement "a great day for Ford, the UAW, the state of Michigan in general and southeast Michigan in particular."
"This plant is the economic engine that drives Livonia," he said.
On the Net:
Ford Motor Co.: http://www.ford.com
Michigan Economic Development Corp.: http://www.michigan.org/medc/