Will the Next-Generation Mustang Be Built on Mazda Architecture?
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| Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, at the wheel, and passenger Jim Padilla, Ford Motor Company Executive Vice President and President for North America, pilot the Ford Mustang concept into the AutoAlliance plant. (Photo: Ford Motor) |
Talk surrounding Ford's 2005 Mustang, concepts of which were two of the big hits at this year's Detroit auto show, have it riding on a heavily modified version of the next-generation Mazda Protegé/Ford Focus platform.
The rumor mill flames were rigorously fanned yesterday with the announcement, made by Jim Padilla, Ford Motor Company Executive Vice President and President for North America and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, that the world's number-two automaker will spend $644 million to upgrade its joint-venture AutoAlliance International plant in Flat Rock, Mich., shared with Mazda Motor Corp. of which FoMoCo holds a majority stake, to build the new Mustang in 2004. The plant currently builds Mazda's new midsize sedan, simply called '6'.
The new assembly line will be capable of producing close to 300,000 vehicles annually by 2005/2006, according to plant officials, while adding the flexibility of up to two separate platforms and eight models total, four per platform. Currently Ford builds approximately 140,000 Mustangs annually.
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| Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Ford's Jim Padilla announce the good news to media, dignitaries and Ford workers. (Photo: Ford Motor) |
This is good news for workers of the southeastern Michigan plant, as it hasn't run near its capacity for the majority of its 15-year history. The new expansion will add 1,200 to 1,400 new jobs, most of which will be filled by Ford workers who were previously laid off from other plants.
Mustang production is being moved because the Dearborn Assembly Plant, which has produced the legendary car since its introduction in 1964, is being torn down as part of a $2 billion redevelopment to make way for the new Dearborn Truck Plant.
Whether news of the new model being produced in the Ford/Mazda JV plant substantiates the current Mustang platform speculation or whether it will cause some to question if the Mustang will share its basic architecture with the Mazda6 instead, is of little consequence. But it must feel satisfying to the folks in Dearborn nonetheless. After all, their muscle car is garnering a frenzy of interest while GM's Camaro and Firebird have been axed due to a lack thereof.