FordBuyer Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Ford likely to build '11 Focus at 2 plants Amy Wilson Automotive News | June 23, 2008 - 12:01 am EST DETROIT — When Ford Motor Co. introduces a European-developed Ford Focus in late 2010, it is likely to produce the U.S. model in two plants. The 2011 Focus probably will be built in Wayne, Mich., and Louisville, Ky., said industry sources familiar with Ford's product plans. Ford makes the current Focus only at the Wayne factory. The Louisville plant currently makes the Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer SUVs. But small cars are hot, and Ford is selling all the Focuses it can produce. Last Friday, Ford ramped up capacity for the small car for the third time this year. The automaker is adding a third shift to the plant's paint and body shops. It is speeding up the assembly line, which runs on two shifts already on overtime. With the changes, Ford expects to be able to produce 280,000 units of Focus annually. The Focus had sales of 173,213 in 2007. Focus sales are up 35.7 percent in 2008. "We view the move to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles as permanent, and we are responding to customer demand," Ford CEO Alan Mulally said a statement Friday. That demand sets up a good prognosis for the 2011 Focus. Ford confirmed Friday that sedan and five-door hatchback versions of the European-developed Focus will go into production in North America in late 2010. The new model is expected to be assembled alongside other small-car variants such as the C-Max crossover, sources said. Ford already sells the C-Max in Europe and could build it in Wayne beginning in 2011, the sources said. The next Focus will arrive just three years after a re-engineered and restyled model went on sale in 2007. That quick replacement wasn't a reaction to $4-a-gallon gasoline. Ford has been planning it for more than a year as part of Mulally's strategy to share vehicles globally. That 2011 Focus will be largely common with models sold in Europe, South America and Asia. Ford said last week that the global Focus will have "excellent" fuel economy, achieved through new direct-injection engine technology and a new six-speed transmission. PRINTED FROM: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Entire contents ©2008 Crain Communications, Inc. __________________ LMdealer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 If it's from Amy Wilson, it's worth listening to. Sorry "C2 megacampus" folks, looks like the savings just weren't there. Wonder if LAP will be CD4 capable as well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcsario Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 To be honest I expected they would move EUCD/CD3 from Mexico to the US, and retool Hermosillo for C2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 There have been rumors as of late about Ford announcing new product for Louisville. Looks like the new product will be Focus and its derivatives. Makes sense and good that Focus will stay American built. I just hope the price stays the same as present Focus. If Ford can hold the line on price, they can sell a ton with DI and 6 speed auto. Ford doesn't need anymore Tempo to Contour disasters when sticker went up $5,000. With Fusion I4 priced around $20,000, Ford will have to keep new Focus in $15,000-19,000 price range. Fiesta will bring up rear in $13,000-16,000 price range. The "new America" will be looking for vehicles in this price range. Reasonable price that Ford is known for and great gas mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 To be honest I expected they would move EUCD/CD3 from Mexico to the US, and retool Hermosillo for C2. Maybe on the next plant upgrade cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 With two plants on the go, how many Focuses do they intend selling each month, more than 50,000? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 One or both will be tooled up for C2 derivatives as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I'm jsut dissapointed they won't be built in Mexico so they can have larger profit margins... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) One or both will be tooled up for C2 derivatives as well. That still adds up to some hefty numbers - maybe half a mil to 600,000 combined!!! Edited June 24, 2008 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 When you consider that KCAP will also be building C2 derivatives (Escape/Mariner/Tribute), and that these 3 plants will be part of a global network of C2 plants, the volumes get quite high indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Could the US actually build the cars cheaper than Europe? If so would that mean, (Shock/Horror) exports? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperPilot Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 There have been rumors as of late about Ford announcing new product for Louisville. Looks like the new product will be Focus and its derivatives. Makes sense and good that Focus will stay American built. I just hope the price stays the same as present Focus. If Ford can hold the line on price, they can sell a ton with DI and 6 speed auto. Ford doesn't need anymore Tempo to Contour disasters when sticker went up $5,000. With Fusion I4 priced around $20,000, Ford will have to keep new Focus in $15,000-19,000 price range. Fiesta will bring up rear in $13,000-16,000 price range. The "new America" will be looking for vehicles in this price range. Reasonable price that Ford is known for and great gas mileage. The price of ALL small cars will go up. Not just Ford, everybody. You have to understand the economics behind it: People in Europe pay a lot for their small cars, because they are in demand. The price on the Focus in North America right now is low because (a-) demand is only now picking up and (b-) it has to keep in check with its competition. This is precisely the problem that the NA Focus faced coming here and why the early NA Focus had a lot of problems -- because they had to make it cheaper to make a profit. Ford can't sticker a car with $30G worth of options for $20G and turn a profit, especially since for $30G you can buy a lot bigger car. You will find that as the profitmakers like trucks and SUVs drop in price, the new in-demand small car prices will rise across the board. But there is a bright side -- you will start to see more features that were reserved for larger cars start to appear in small ones because the cost can be better hidden in the larger price tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I'm jsut dissapointed they won't be built in Mexico so they can have larger profit margins... Well considering the CD3 cars have a higher price then the Focus does, they'll make even more money on them vs building them in the States. Have to figure that an MKZ starts at 30K and doesnt cost all that much more to build then a Fusion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 To be honest I expected they would move EUCD/CD3 from Mexico to the US, and retool Hermosillo for C2. The C2 saves money by sharing engineering with the European and Asian Focus. It also saves money being built near the suppliers for the highest tech parts. The EUCD is European. We don't know what will happen to the future version of it. The CD3 will become an orphan within the next few years so it needs to save money by limiting changes in production and keeping assembly cost down. Note: the US C2 will be built in the US. They still need production for South America. Likely Brazil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Could the US actually build the cars cheaper than Europe?If so would that mean, (Shock/Horror) exports? The trend is to build more cars locally. Ford of Europe can build the Focus at low labour cost in Romania or Turkey and have low shipping cost to the rest of Europe. Many of the light weight expensive things like electronics can be imported from China to save money. The heavy things like metal stampings are made near by to save shipping cost and have "Just in time". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 The EUCD is European. We don't know what will happen to the future version of it. The CD3 will become an orphan within the next few years so it needs to save money by limiting changes in production and keeping assembly cost down. CD3 & EUCD will be replaced by CD4 within a year of C2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironhorse Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 As a Kentuckian,I'm very happy for the folks in Louisville...if true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkisler Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Could the US actually build the cars cheaper than Europe?If so would that mean, (Shock/Horror) exports? JPD80, I would say the US can definitely build cars in the US cheaper than Europe in Euro terms, since the dollar has been driven down so far and Ford's average wage and benefit rates are headed down. And we work harder in the US. In the sense that the US has its close-by lower wage country in Mexico, Europe has Central Europe which I suspect can build cars cheaper than building in the US and shipping to Europe. BMW has done a lot of mixing and matching of products with their plant in the US. Benz has a plant here. VW is coming with a new plant in the US. But, it certainly would make sense for Ford to export, particularly if there were a lower-volume derivative on a common platform whose volumes could be pooled in the US for production. But it partially depends on which product and where it's produced due to logistics. Freight can be a killer, and Ford's plants are not close to the coast. The last export program of any volume we had to Europe was the CDW-based Cougar, and the volumes on that product in Europe tanked pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) Thanks, Austin, I thought that US production had to be on a par with costs in Valencia (Spain) or Saarlouis (Germany) really good signs amidst the confusion and turmoil, hope the good news isn't lost on the media. Three plants all running C2 Focus & Derivatives sure sounds like a way to bring down supply costs. I'm pleased that Wayne, Louisville and KCAP all get a piece of Ford's future products. Edited June 24, 2008 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 (edited) To be honest I expected they would move EUCD/CD3 from Mexico to the US, and retool Hermosillo for C2. Hermosillo needs to keep making the Fusions - so they can be shipped to South America. For the Focus - there is a Plant in Argentina to supply south America - once again the US's lack of export treaties will keep hurting US workers. Unless Ford needs a second plant - Hermosillo will keep the Fusion lineup. (Edge, Explorer, and others are also exported there, but they have (had) different profit margins. Igor Edited June 24, 2008 by igor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Fusion needs to keep making the Fusions - so it can be shipped to South America. For the Focus - there is a Plant in Argentina to supply south America - once again the US's lack of export treaties will keep hurting US workers. Unless Ford needs a second plant - Hermosillo will keep the Fusion lineup. Igor Canada is busy negotiating trade deals with many South American countries now. But I don't think it would be economic to ship cars from Canada to South America. Canada is closer to Europe than South America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 To be honest I expected they would move EUCD/CD3 from Mexico to the US, and retool Hermosillo for C2. the timing won't be right for that. I don't think wayne is safe just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 the timing won't be right for that. I don't think wayne is safe just yet. Eh, wouldn't make any sense to get rid of Wayne at this point. Maybe somewhere down the road, but I'd say at least for the immediate future (7-8 years at least) it's safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Eh, wouldn't make any sense to get rid of Wayne at this point. Maybe somewhere down the road, but I'd say at least for the immediate future (7-8 years at least) it's safe. I would not bet on it - apparently the ergonomics issues and the line length issues are serious enough to warrant Ford looking elsewhere. Igor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I would not bet on it - apparently the ergonomics issues and the line length issues are serious enough to warrant Ford looking elsewhere. Igor But where? What other idle plants don't have the same problems? Only possibility I can think of is Wixom, unless they are really going to convert MTP -- which many people have said is very unlikely. I don't think Louisville is large enough to handle it all on their own. Perhaps they will keep Wayne open while they expand Louisville and close Wayne when they are done.... :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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