DEARBORN, Mich., July 21, 2011 – The Ford Fusion Hybrid is America’s most fuel-efficient sedan and may be the highest-quality hybrid based on hundreds of millions of worry-free miles its owners have traveled.

Ford’s hybrid taxi fleet has logged more than 80 million miles in California alone during the past decade – more than quadruple the number of miles logged by Toyota’s Prius lineup. Yet, among the nearly 43 million battery cells Ford has tested or seen put to work in customer vehicles, only five issues have been documented.

This impressive quality record has surprised taxi operators who expected to experience more issues as they led the adoption of Ford’s patented hybrid technology. The Fusion Hybrid, which a leading consumer magazine rated America’s most reliable sedan of any hybrid or conventional model, also has taken hold with customers who give it a 91 percent “overall vehicle quality” score compared… read more

Please visit our website:

Dearborn, Mich., May 27, 2011 – When owners of the Ford Focus Electric or C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid charge up their cars, they’ll find a natural, instinctive fit. That’s not by chance – it’s by design, and it’s because Ford engineers did their homework in ensuring customers had the perfect place to “fuel” up.

“After benchmarking multiple competitive vehicles, we found there wasn’t much consistency in charge port location,” said Susan Curry, Ford Electrified Vehicle Technology Integration supervisor. “We wanted to give customers a location that made the most sense for them and would seem as simple as filling up at the gas station.”

Finding the best charge port location may seem…READ MORE

Please visit our website:

DALLAS and DEARBORN, Mich., March 23, 2011 — Ford Motor Company and AT&T* today announced an agreement to wirelessly connect the Ford Focus Electric, Ford’s first all-electric passenger car. Announced in January at the 2011 International CES, the new Focus Electric enters production at the Michigan Assembly Plant in late 2011.

Through the new MyFord Mobile smartphone app, using the embedded AT&T wireless connection, Ford Focus Electric vehicle owners will have the ability to send and receive data about their car providing command and control of vehicle settings while away from it.

“Ford has been at the forefront of developing market leading telematics and infotainment services for its vehicles and we’re thrilled to be a part of this exciting and significant next step with the upcoming Focus Electric,” said Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices, resale and partnerships, AT&T. “Connecting consumers directly to their electric vehicles in this new and innovative way is going to drive innovative and exciting levels of interaction.”

MyFord Mobile technology provides Focus Electric owners in North America with a powerful tool to stay connected, monitor and control their vehicle. Through a smartphone app or secure website, MyFord Mobile invites Focus Electric owners to plan trips, monitor the vehicle’s state of charge, receive various alerts for vehicle charging, as well as provides several other features designed to simplify the electric vehicle ownership experience.

“With a wireless connection, we’re putting battery charge and vehicle range information, along with an interactive, data-driven trip planning app, directly at the fingertips of our customers,” said Ed Pleet, product and business manager for Ford Connected Services. “This technology will keep drivers connected to vital information, enhancing their electric car ownership experience. The AT&T network is an important part of this equation and we’re pleased to have AT&T on board.”

MyFord Mobile will connect through the AT&T network, allowing the car to communicate off-board through standard wireless technology. From an internet connected mobile phone or computer, owners can:

• Find current and projected state of charge information including estimated range and the amount of charge time necessary for additional distances
• Program vehicle charging with utility input, allowing the car to start charging immediately or when electricity prices are lowest with the value charging feature, powered by Microsoft
• Features powered by MapQuest available on the MyFord smartphone app:
  • Locate charging stations and get the destination sent to the vehicle
  • Know if the vehicle can reach a specific charge station from its current location with the current charge level
  • Create a journey with multiple stops, and determine the likelihood that the car has adequate charge for the full journey
  • Find the car by creating a route from a mobile phone to the vehicle
• Receive alerts if the vehicle isn’t charging when it’s scheduled to, or if charging stops unexpectedly due to a power outage, plug removal or other event
• Receive alerts during recharge when the vehicle has reached a particular preset charge level or has the ability to reach a particular destination
• Engage remote vehicle preconditioning, using grid power to heat or cool the vehicle interior
• Remotely lock/unlock doors
• Use the built-in GPS system to locate the car
• Download performance and system data
• Fun ways of understanding your driver behavior, with ratings from ‘Zen’ to ‘Zippy’
• Receive information personalized to the driver, depending on which key the driver used

How the system works
At launch, the MyFord Mobile app will be available for most major smartphones, along with a mobile web application for compatibility with any phone supporting HTML-5 browser-based access, or feature phones with WAP 2.0-supported browsers. The feature also is accessible via a secure Ford website.
Owners will use the smartphone to communicate with a cloud-based highly secure server, which stores information provided by the embedded wireless module in Focus Electric. Using a cloud-based architecture ensures users will have up-to-the-minute access to information through the AT&T wireless network.

WAYNE, Mich., March 17, 2011 – Ford Motor Company is celebrating production of its all-new global Ford Focus, built for North American customers in its completely transformed Michigan Assembly Plant (MAP). Following a $550 million transformation, the plant features an environmentally friendly workplace with flexible manufacturing capability and a motivated, specially trained work force ready to deliver a fuel-efficient new car to the marketplace.

“MAP epitomizes the best of what Ford stands for – fuel efficiency, quality, smart technology,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas. “Focus delivers even more of what customers truly want and value – and this new car could not arrive in the market at a better time.”

The new Focus sets a new standard in the small car segment in North America, offering more technology and features than more expensive European cars, such as SYNC® with Traffic, Directions and Information, MyFord Touch™, active park assist and Wi-Fi access, while delivering up to an unsurpassed 40 mpg with an automatic transmission.

Fuel economy and greener driving will be built into each new vehicle slated for production at MAP. With its flexible manufacturing system, Ford workers can build multiple models on one or more platforms in the same facility. The Focus Electric zero-emission battery electric vehicle is slated to go into production late this year at the plant, followed by production of the new C-MAX Hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid in 2012.

With this product lineup, Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant will be the first facility in the world capable of building a full array of vehicles – gas-powered, electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid – all on the same production line.

The company’s investment in Wayne, Mich., is supported by strong partnerships at the state, county and local level, as well as by Ford’s green partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. Michigan Assembly Plant is one of 11 Ford facilities in the U.S. participating in the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program initiated by Congress and implemented by the Obama administration. This green loan program is helping to develop advanced technology vehicles and strengthen American manufacturing across the country. Ford, Nissan, Tesla, Fisker and Vehicle Production Group (VPG) are all participants in this initiative.

Making Ford vehicles smarter, greener
MAP is Ford’s most flexible plant, thanks to reprogrammable tooling in the body shop, standardized equipment in the paint shop and a common-build sequence in final assembly. This flexibility allows the Ford team to produce multiple models on the same assembly line – and in even more environmentally friendly ways.

In its flexible body shop, at least 80 percent of MAP’s robotic equipment can be programmed to weld various-sized vehicles – a Ford first. And, MAP’s integrated stamping facility allows the stamping and welding of all large sheet-metal parts on-site, ensuring maximum quality and minimum overhead.

The plant also will employ an efficient, synchronous material flow, where parts and other components will move in kits to each operator, providing employees with the tools they need in the sequence they will need them.

Michigan Assembly is the first U.S. plant to commercially use a three-wet paint application that will save about $3 million in production in natural gas and electricity – without compromising Ford’s paint quality or durability.

“In most other automotive plants, we apply a layer of paint called the primer coat and we bake the unit, and then we put on the base coat and the clear coat, and we bake it again,” said John Nowak, environmental engineer. “The three-wet process allows us to put on primer, base and clear, and bake it only once. We save all the electricity from the blowers that run the booths and the ovens, plus all the natural gas from heating the air and the ovens. Ford is leading the way on this greener, cleaner paint process.”

Because of the differences in technique – including robotic processing, elimination of equipment and associated pollutants, and increased line speed – the three-wet paint process produces 6,000 metric tons fewer CO2 emissions per year compared to waterborne systems and 8,000 metric tons fewer CO2 emissions per year compared to conventional high-solvent-borne systems. There also is a Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions savings of 5 percent related to processing.

Driving on sunshine
MAP also boasts one of the largest solar power generation systems in the state as well as several electric vehicle charging stations, allowing the plant to operate on a blend of renewable and conventional electricity.

Renewable energy collected by the solar panels directly feeds the energy-efficient microgrid, helping power the plant. When the plant is inactive, such as holidays, the stored solar energy will provide power during periods of insufficient or inconsistent sunlight. The projected energy cost savings is approximately $160,000 per year.

“We have taken steps great and small to make the plant as green as possible,” Nowak said. “Our goal was to help the 4,000 Ford employees make this several-million-square-foot facility truly environmentally friendly and cost-efficient.”

The plant also has 10 electric vehicle charging stations that recharge electric switcher trucks that transport parts between adjacent facilities – saving an estimated 86,000 gallons of gas a year.

Plus, the 50 percent of the parts arriving for the all-new Focus that come from Europe, packed in cardboard, are carefully collected, sorted and recycled, as is the bubble wrap, the Styrofoam and water bottles used by employees. Even the temporary wooden partitions that were put up as the plant was revamped and remodeled were donated to the local Habitat for Humanity.

Quality focus
But equipment isn’t all it takes for a plant transformation to occur. Work force training is equally important. Doug Mertz, organization development manager at MAP, worked with the team to develop training that would focus on the plant’s operating principles – safety, quality and flexible manufacturing – with high priority placed on respect for people, product and processes.

Group leaders from Wayne Assembly Plant participated in an intense, three-week quality education, which included pre-builds of the new Focus and in-depth training on safety, ergonomics and work-station design. In addition, group leaders were trained on “soft skills,” such as developmental leadership, personality preferences and their impact on behavior, conflict resolution, change management, techniques for teaching others, and other skills to aid in situations specific to their base departments.

“Since the group leaders would be training the base operators when they came to the MAP site, we wanted them to understand not only the implication of performing their job correctly, but also the impact that performing the job incorrectly would have downstream,” said Mertz.

As the full MAP salaried and hourly work force arrived at Michigan Assembly Plant, operating patterns helped to ease the transition. The first week, the normally two-shift operation was combined into one so that group leaders on both day and afternoon shifts could work collectively with their teams and ensure standardization of work practices. Shifts continued to overlap so line employees could work together and minimize variability on job performance.

“The all-new Ford Focus is truly global in the sense that we’ve created it to satisfy the needs and wants of people all around the world,” said Plant Manager Rob Webber. “This has been an exciting challenge but one we’re ready for. We have the people and processes in place to deliver on the promise of the new Ford Focus and the many products to come.”

Inside MAP
Click here for video of the all-new Ford Focus on the assembly line at Michigan Assembly Plant.

Please visit our website:

WAYNE, Mich., Dec. 14, 2010 – Ford Motor Company’s Michigan Assembly Plant, which once churned out large SUVs, has completed a $550 million transformation that will make it the world’s first factory to build not only fuel-efficient gas-powered cars, but also three production versions of electrified vehicles including battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid.

Michigan Assembly will be home to the all-new global Ford Focus, which has started production and goes on sale early next year. The Focus Electric zero-emission battery electric vehicle goes into production late next year followed by production of a new hybrid and a plug-in hybrid in 2012.

“We’ve modernized just about every square foot of this facility to establish a new standard for a high-tech, green, flexible and efficient auto factory,” said Jim Tetreault, Ford vice president of North America Manufacturing. “The transformation of Michigan Assembly Plant stands as a symbol for the transformation of Ford.”

On the outside, a new 500-kilowatt solar panel system will be installed to help generate renewal energy for production of Ford’s all-new Focus and Focus Electric cars. Ten new electric vehicle charging stations on the property will be used to recharge the electric trucks that transport parts between adjacent facilities.

Inside, new cars making the three-mile trip down the assembly line must pass dozens of rigorous quality inspections. A new three-wet paint booth utilizes 66 paint robots with seven axis of movement to precisely apply paint to the cars. In the body shop, 500 new robots capable of 4,000 welds per vehicle add to the plant’s flexibility. And a new internal communications system flashes updates and information to the plant’s 3,200 employees via 163 monitor screens distributed throughout the plant.

Flexible: Trends move fast
Bright, modern and green – like the car it is building – the refurbished Michigan Assembly Plant is the company’s new benchmark for flexible manufacturing. At 1.2 million square feet – about the size of 22 football fields – the plant becomes Ford’s most flexible, high-volume and modern manufacturing facility in its global operations. Ford will continue to evolve its manufacturing flexibility as the company’s facilities are rapidly being transformed into more nimble, flexible, and technologically advanced operations.

The changes at the plant will allow the company to run multiple models down the same production line without requiring considerable downtime for changeover of tooling. Two different models of the Focus can be adjusted between builds without restrictions.

“If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that customer wants and needs can change quickly – much more quickly than we have been equipped to efficiently respond to in the past,” said Tetreault. “At Michigan Assembly, we will achieve a level of flexibility we don’t have in any other plant around the world, which will allow us to meet shifting consumer preferences in real time.”

Renewable: Power from the sun
Michigan Assembly also will boast Michigan’s largest solar power generation system and several electric vehicle charging stations for greener, more sustainable manufacturing when installation is completed next year.

Ford is teaming with Detroit Edison and Xtreme Power to install the 500-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel system. The system will be integrated with a 750-kilowatt energy storage facility that can store 2 million watt-hours of energy using batteries – enough to power 100 average Michigan homes for a year. A secondary, smaller solar energy system will be added at a later date to power lighting systems at Michigan Assembly. The combined systems are expected to result in projected energy cost savings of about $160,000 per year.

Quality: At every turn
To ensure best-in-class quality for the all-new Focus, vehicles on the line will endure rigorous examinations. Workers will perform hundreds of comprehensive quality tests and checks to ensure every bolt, seam and joint has been thoroughly inspected before continuing down the line.

“We are leveraging our people, processes and products to consistently build cars that will surpass the competition,” said Tetreault. “This plant embodies everything we as a company strive to become – modern, efficient, flexible, global and sustainable.”

Contributing to Focus’ best-in-class quality and Michigan Assembly’s transformation:

•Virtual manufacturing technology to improve ergonomics for easier, safer work
•Redesigned water soak testing booth to ensure zero water entry for long-term durability
•Highly efficient and environmentally friendly painting process
•Best-in-class squeak and rattle track that shakes and rolls vehicles for noises
•New energy-efficient illumination lighting for better vehicle inspections
•Moving platforms with real-time height adjustments for better operator ergonomics
•Vision-guided automation for better installation, fit-and-finish of doors, decks and hoods
•New robotic paint spray booths for more consistent and environmentally friendly application
•Electric tools capable of precisely measuring torque and the number of rotations required to secure bolts, screws and other attachments
Adding to the physical transformation of the plant, Ford and the United Auto Workers have developed a framework to establish a strong, progressive culture that encourages joint problem solving and continuous improvement of the production process.

“This plant is an inspirational example of how a modern manufacturing facility should look and work,” said Tetreault. “It’s bright, high-tech and efficient, while also being environmentally and ergonomically friendly.”

Please visit our website: www.robinsonbrothers.com

Ford predicts the electrification of America’s auto fleet to happen a lot faster than most have expected.

Nancy Gioia, Ford’s director of global electrification, told our colleague Jewel Gopwani at the Detroit Free Press that Ford expects 10% to 25% of its sales by 2020 will be vehicles that in some way run on batteries, up from about 2% now.

Of those electrified vehicles, 70% will be hybrids, 20% to 25% plug-in hybrids, the rest pure electrics.

For starters, Ford, which needs to give Lincoln new life as it kills off Mercury, says its new 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid has gotten an EPA sticker rating of at 41 miles per gallon in the city, 36 mpg on the highway. That beats what it considers the MKZ hybrid’s top mid-size luxury sedan rival — the 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid — by 6 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway. Ford also claims a top speed on battery alone of 47 mph vs. 25 mph for the Lexus.

Gioia says the 2020 estimate is a wide range because there are lots of unanswered questions about access to and affordability of electrified vehicles.

Hybrids will prevail for some time, she told Gopwani at a green car conference, because creating infrastructure for plug-in vehicles — charging stations and upgrades to the electric grid – has barely begun. Also, hybrids are more expensive than gas-only cars but still a lot more affordable than plug-in hybrids and all-electrics with their bigger, costlier battery packs. “Customers can see a reasonable payback period (on a regular hybrid’s extra cost) even at $2.80 a gallon,” Gioia said.

In a speech to the conference, Gioia stressed that automakers, in their product plans, must cater to customers’ needs, preferences and concerns about electrified vehicles. “The customer will decide who the winners and losers are and ultimately the pace of adoption of greener vehicles.”

Please visit our website: