Will Ford's Wixom plant be spared?

It seems like there’s been a lot of speculation on these here Autoblog pages (here, here, and here, for starters) about the future of Ford’s Wixom plant, and I see no reason to stop now. With the Dearborn company’s Way Forward plan (AKA Let’s Give This Downsizing Thing A Second Try) coming in less than a week, we’ve got yet another industry analyst weighing in and stating that it will remain open.

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It seems
like there’s been a lot of speculation on these here Autoblog pages (here, here, and here, for starters) about the future
of Ford’s Wixom plant, and I see no reason to stop now. With the Dearborn company’s Way Forward plan (AKA Let’s Give
This Downsizing Thing A Second Try) coming in less than a week, we’ve got yet another industry analyst weighing in and
stating that it will remain open.
I think a fair question to ask is “What will be built there?”
if the plant remains open. One might guess that if Ford’s St. Thomas plant – the home of the Crown Vic and Grand
Marquis – is identified for shutdown, then it’s possible that the Wixom plant would be used to continue on with
full-size RWD car production (the Panther platform is slated to carry on through the end of this decade). That’s simply
speculation on my behalf, though.