Ford to build new low-cost assembly plant in USA?
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Ford Motor Company is said to be looking to build a new low-cost assembly plant, and would like to place it
somewhere in the United States. Ford North America president Mark Fields states that the location of the plant will be
determined by financial and not political reasons (Q: Which category do tax breaks fall into?), and that cooperation
from the UAW is critical to keeping this factory in the US. Otherwise, the company is said to be more than willing to
go to Canada or Mexico. Specifically, the automaker is looking for labor flexibility similar to that of other
recent North American UAW manufacturing locations, such as General Motors' Cadillac plant and the DCX-Hyundai GEMA
plant.
What exactly the new plant will build is unknown at this time, and likely depends much on Ford's success in closing several of its older, less efficient North American plants.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Puff Chippy 11:06AM (4/19/2006)
Seems like a no-brainer for the UAW. Gee, I can either become flexible or not have a job. What to do...
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doug 11:28AM (4/19/2006)
Why can't Ford just remodel one of it's current plants? Seems like a good labor relations move to keep current people employed. A new plant would either force people to move or force Ford to hire new - which doesn't seem very bright considering the #'s they are laying off. They'd still have to deal with the UAW contract at a new location.
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bloggaru 11:29AM (4/19/2006)
seems like a good idea
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Ian Lewis 11:35AM (4/19/2006)
In defense of the different Auto Makers looking for tax breaks: they didn't make game (i.e. crazy tax laws), but they have to play it.
You wouldnt expect them to build in a high-crime area. Or in a place with lots of floods, or any other place that was not "friendly", so, why would anyone expect them to build in some place with high-taxes?
Just my 2 cents.
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Corey W. 11:36AM (4/19/2006)
New plant? Why not just retool an existing plant that was scheduled to be closed.
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hj 11:41AM (4/19/2006)
why not retool an existing plant? Ford wants plants that can be flexable. They want plants that can support modern manufacturing technology which allows manufacturers to change a line over from one model to antoher with little retooling cost. This is impossible to do with plants that were built over 50 years ago.
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L3 11:45AM (4/19/2006)
Okay, then bulldoze the current plant and build new on the current site. It makes sense that 'idled' workers would be the most willing to negotiate.
And, yeah, they already live there and know how to do the job!
I am not a UAW fan, but let's be logical...
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Frank 12:06PM (4/19/2006)
#7
I remember this being discussed in congress on CSPAN years ago. It was right after the Republicans took the House. Newt or some other pols were saying that current EPA laws made it cheaper to put a factory up on "greeenfield" site than to renovate a "brownfield" site (one that had already been used for some industrial purpose). Seems the EPA regs stated you had to clean up the old site like it was going to be used for a school or playground - totally free of pollution. Instead of just cleaning it enough for another factory - so companies even if they wanted to build on an old industrial site often chose a new unspoiled site. I don't know if these EPA regs were a fact or if they have changed since then. Just recounting what I heard years ago. It does sound believable though.
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Bob 12:27PM (4/19/2006)
#7, Bulldozing an old plant is exactly what GM did when it built its new Caddy plant here in Lansing, MI.
It could happen.
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Aki 12:52PM (4/19/2006)
It's a veiled threat to the UAW saying, "we're taking the jobs out of the US unless you budge." There's no reason to build a new plant elsewhere in the US--why not build it right where it stands, or retool the current factory? It's telling the UAW that they can get those jobs lost from closed factories back--if they negotiate lower health care costs, retirement benefits, etc.
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Chris Rosario 12:57PM (4/19/2006)
I bet Ford is building a plant possibly in the Southeast where Toyota is right now in Kentucky like
North Carolina, Tennessee or South Carolina.
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Bob 1:33PM (4/19/2006)
You cannot just retool an old plant. The architecture often prohibits it.
Just in time delivery systems require delivery access to points along the route of the assembly line. An old big box will not allow this. A good example is GM's new plant, being constructed in Delta Twp. Michigan. It is actually three (or more?) buildings that are connected by bridges that the cars pass through, up and over exterior traffic. This way there are more exterior openings, so items such as engines can be delivered right where they drop into the car, instead of having to be stored or trucked through he plant.
If a plant is old enough it might also have support structures which get in the way of assembly lines, equipment, etc.
I was able to take a tour of the GM plant a few weeks back. One of the managers was bragging about his workers, who have a lot of experience. He mentioned that Toyota will have to spend a lot more time and money training their workers at their new Tundra plant, because Texas doesn't have skilled (yes, I said skilled) workers down there. Many of the workers in the newer plants around Michigan have degrees or similar amounts of training. The point to this paragraph is that Ford may choose to build a plant where there is a ready supply of workers who have been trained in advanced, flexible manufacturing, such as the Caddy plant workers who received 800 hours of training on the new assembly methods.
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Don 10:25AM (4/20/2006)
The EPA concerns, the union problems and the tax breaks all prevent the Big Three from simply retooling an existing plant. Until our government and consumers are as willing to work with US Owned auto makers as they are with foreign-owned manufacturers our economy will continue to shrink until we match those competitors, such as Korea and Japan. It's only a matter of time until the ONLY US manufactured automobiles are owned by foreign companies, and those profits leave our shores. Someone needs to wake up in Washington.
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nelson 7:42AM (4/22/2006)
We have the perfect place right hers in Norfolk va. Norfolk assembly has been told for years how we were the best but now were told the that being best is not good enough.They are going to destroy a large number of families for no reason.If Ford is is such bad shapethat they close their #1 truck plant,then they are going down any way.Bill Ford will be known as the man at the helm whe it went belly up but wouldnt you think he would at least want to be known as someone who had some bright ideas?
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