Associated Press (AP) reports that Ford and representatives of the Georgia governor have declined to discuss the automaker’s supposed plans to build an assembly plant there for its new Futura mid-size sedan, scheduled for initial production in 2005 as the eventual successor to the aging Taurus.
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However, AP reports that two sources involved in the talks, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said an announcement regarding two sites being considered is likely within weeks.
In addition, AP reports that the prospect that Ford may build a new assembly plant in Georgia could mean that Ford may reconsider plans to mothball a suburban St. Louis plant.
The AP report quoted Patrick McKeehan, project director of the task force created last year by Gov. Bob Holden to save the 2,600-worker Hazelwood plant, which Ford plans to close by mid-decade. “To some extent, we’re encouraged by Ford making that kind of investment,” said McKeehan.
“If Ford has the capability of investing in a new facility in Georgia, they should have similar capability of renovating” and not shuttering the plant in Hazelwood, McKeehan told AP. “To me, it’s a positive sign.”
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By GlobalDataFord, the world’s second-largest automaker, said in January 2002 it would close the Hazelwood site as part of restructuring measures.
Ford planned to save money by moving production of the Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer sport utility vehicles from Hazelwood to a sister plant in Louisville, Ky.
