Kansas City to Build New Low-Emission Ford Lifestyle Vehicle
23 July 1998
Kansas City to Build New Low-Emission Ford Lifestyle Vehicle CLAYCOMO, Mo., July 22 -- The Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant
has been selected as the manufacturing site for an all-new vehicle, Ford
Automotive Operations President Jac Nasser announced today.
"This new lifestyle vehicle is good news for our customers and for the
future of the Kansas City Assembly Plant," Nasser said. "It is a natural
extension of our industry-leading SUV lineup and is sized to be easily
maneuverable in urban traffic while retaining the off-road capability of our
larger sport utility vehicles. Smaller than the country's best-selling sport
utility the Ford Explorer, the new vehicle will appeal to young buyers and the
young at heart who want agile, sporty, durable transportation."
At the plant, with Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, Nasser said the new
vehicle will go into production in 2000. The retooling and expansion of the
plant to produce the new vehicle begin this month.
The new five-passenger vehicle, with uni-body construction, equipped with
Ford powertrains and front or all-wheel drive, will have the latest safety
equipment, including side airbags.
It will be a low-emission vehicle (LEV) -- or cleaner -- as will be all
Ford , Lincoln and Mercury SUVs and the Ford Windstar minivan
beginning with the 1999 model year. Ford's present SUV lineup includes the
Ford Explorer and Expedition, Mercury Mountaineer, and the Lincoln Navigator.
A vehicle certified as a LEV emits only half of the smog forming hydrocarbon
emissions produced by comparable vehicles on the road today, and far exceeds
all requirements of U.S., Canadian and Mexican law. At more than 20 miles per
gallon, the new lifestyle vehicle's fuel economy will be comparable to many
family sedans.
The new vehicle will be built on the assembly line that today produces the
Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. The Contour and Mystique will continue to
be produced at Ford's Cuautitlan Assembly Plant, outside Mexico City.
This change at Kansas City is the latest example of Ford's strategy of
moving from lower volume, lower margin vehicles to higher margin, higher
volume vehicles.
"I would like to thank Governor Carnahan and the Missouri legislature for
helping Ford keep this plant competitive, which made this feasible," said
Nasser. "Most of all, I would like to thank the hardworking women and men of
Kansas City Assembly," Nasser added. "Last year, you produced more cars and
trucks for Ford customers than any other Ford plant in North America. And you
produced quality vehicles. The cars and trucks made here have shown major
quality improvements this year."
The plant will grow by some 122,000 square feet. The plant body shop will
be expanded, with new clinching presses added, to allow doors and hoods for
the new sport utility vehicle to be assembled on site. In the past, this work
would have been done at metal stamping plants outside Missouri.
A new addition to the plant paint area will ultimately house new
environmentally friendly, lead-free electro-coat and phosphate systems to
improve corrosion protection on the new vehicle.
During his visit to Kansas City, Nasser presented the plant with a
certificate recognizing that it has been registered to the ISO 14001
international environmental standard. Kansas City is the 46th Ford plant
worldwide to be certified under ISO 14001. The standard encompasses all
environmental aspects of a manufacturing site, including energy use, water
treatment, waste disposal, noise and air quality, and requires an organization
to monitor and continually improve its performance. Ford plans to have all
142 of its plants certified by the end of the year.
In the Harbour Report on automotive productivity released last week, The
Kansas City Assembly Plant was rated the eighth best truck plant in North
America in terms of hours per vehicle. Ford led nine of 12 vehicle segments.
The Kansas City Assembly Plant opened in 1951, covers 3.7 million square
feet and has 5,200 employees. During 1997, Kansas City produced 419,595 cars
and light trucks -- more than any Ford assembly plant in North America. On an
average day, 1,880 cars and trucks roll off the Kansas City Plant's two
assembly lines.
