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Additional products coming to FRAP?


deflep1

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I posted almost 2 years ago that Ford was looking into making Flat Rock Assembly a Lincoln unique plant, building almost all Lincolns there. They couldn't move some of the products then and the plan was put on the back burner. We know we are getting the Continental and probably another Lincoln, but with MAP moving the compacts out of the U.S., this leaves room to move products. A friend who works in Trim and Final had his half sister and her new boyfriend over for dinner this week. Her boyfriend is a high up for Lincoln sales and marketing. He said the rumors were true, Ford is putting a ton of money into FRAP to produce every Lincoln possible within 3 years. (Same time frame for MAP losing Focus and C-Max, 2018) He said the Lincoln MKZ will be moved from Mexico to Flat Rock, and the Fusion will return down there. The MKZ will get a much more powerful engine (400 HP) to compete with Cadillac, and might go to a real wheel drive platform, along with AWD. He said the MKC will move from Louisville to Flat Rock to let them max out Escape production there. The Mustang has been rumored for a few months now to be moving somewhere else, and he said the rumor is true, it will move to MAP when the compacts leave. He said Flat Rock might also get the next version of the Lincoln Aviator. I have heard similar things from pilot plant workers and glass house staff recently. I know Ford has a master plan for Flat Rock, putting billions into it. I don't know if it will all play out like the rumors and the Lincoln sales and marketing guy say it will, but we all know products are going to be moved and will probably find out when the contract is approved. I would hate to see the Mustang go, but I understand that Ford really wants Lincoln to succeed, and it's smart of them to be able to have quality control over almost an entire brand at one plant. It would lower costs, improve quality and brand recognition. And who knows, we may finally see if they will build a high powered Lincoln based on the Mustang! If we do become a Lincoln unique plant, the Mustang and Fusion will have to leave. Mexico would get the Fusion back, and MAP would be the logical choice for the Mustang. This will be most interesting if it all turns out to be true.

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Doesn't make sense.

 

Need more Fusion production than Mexico can produce.

 

Mustang can't survive in a plant by itself.

 

Expensive to build so many vehicles in one plant that don't share platforms with each other.

Edited by Pioneer
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I think the main issue is volume. As of now, Lincoln's total sales is about 90K units a year. I am sure the new Continental, Aviator, and rumored additional product will bump those numbers up, but Flat Rock is a 250K-300K unit a year plant. I think the only way that it might work would be if Mustang would stay at FRAP, but even then, building more than five different models would be tough.

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Doesn't make sense.

 

Need more Fusion production than Mexico can produce.

 

Mustang can't survive in a plant by itself.

 

Expensive to build so many vehicles in one plant that don't share platforms with each other.

I'm sure if MAP got the Mustang, there would be another vehicle produced there to max out production. There has never been another plant they could move the Mustang to with enough open production. MAP will be wide open. If we swap the Fusion for MKZ, Mexico can build another 30-40 thousand Fusions. That may not be enough, but MAP would still have enough space to produce Fusions. (Ford will fill every plant they can with whatever cars they need) Yes, it would be very expensive, but Ford is dumping billions into growing Lincoln, and more platforms and parts would be combined. I didn't think Ford would ever consider trying something as big as that, but more and more engineers, maintenance supervisors, new model members and vendors are talking about this. Nothing is ever a done deal until it happens, but this is the "Master Plan" that keeps getting referred to. Management here has been told we are going to build more and more Lincolns, I guess they are starting to figure out where they need to move our current products. I didn't think moving the Mustang would happen, but with a plant becoming open by 2018, it's possible. A few of the same people who told me we would get the Mustang in 2004, we got it. They said we'd lose a shift, we lost it. They said Mazda was pulling out, they did. They said we were getting the Fusion, we did. They said we were adding a shift, we did. They said we were getting the MKS, (it became the Continental) we did. They said Ford wants to make us a Lincoln unique plant almost 2 years ago....they have an excellent track record, we'll see if it continues.

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I talked to the new model launch team today and they confirmed the push to bring 3 or more Lincolns to FRAP in the next 2 years. They said the Mustang will be moved if we have too much other products. MAP is the go to site (they will have at least 2 products), but we have contract talks to deal with and the possibility of Chicago Assembly closing. That's the wildcard in all this. If they close, the Explorer would move to MAP, and the Taurus maybe discontinued. The Mustang will stay as long as possible at FRAP, but if we start building 4 or 5 Lincoln products by 2018, it would have to go. If MAP gets the Explorer, and the Mustang is still to be moved, then which plant is anyone's guess. Ford is deciding if they are going through with the production of a Lincoln coupe based off the Mustang. We would build that, the MKZ, Continental, possibly the Aviator and even the MKC. A third shift is planned, but a start date hasn't been decided yet. We start building the pre-production Continental in November, job 1 next spring. The MKZ will follow next summer. We are starting the right hand drive Mustangs right now, and will find out by the end of the year how well it sells overseas. Pre-sale orders are great, so with that and 2 new cars, it looks like a third shift will be added next spring or maybe a little sooner. Ford has until 2017 to figure out where all the cars will be built, because the next year will be full tilt production when all the moves are complete.

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"I talked to the new model launch team today and they confirmed the push to bring 3 or more Lincolns to FRAP in the next 2 years. They said the Mustang will be moved if we have too much other products. MAP is the go to site (they will have at least 2 products), but we have contract talks to deal with and the possibility of Chicago Assembly closing. That's the wildcard in all this. If they close, the Explorer would move to MAP, and the Taurus maybe discontinued. The Mustang will stay as long as possible at FRAP, but if we start building 4 or 5 Lincoln products by 2018, it would have to go. If MAP gets the Explorer, and the Mustang is still to be moved, then which plant is anyone's guess. Ford is deciding if they are going through with the production of a Lincoln coupe based off the Mustang. We would build that, the MKZ, Continental, possibly the Aviator and even the MKC. A third shift is planned, but a start date hasn't been decided yet. We start building the pre-production Continental in November, job 1 next spring. The MKZ will follow next summer. We are starting the right hand drive Mustangs right now, and will find out by the end of the year how well it sells overseas. Pre-sale orders are great, so with that and 2 new cars, it looks like a third shift will be added next spring or maybe a little sooner. Ford has until 2017 to figure out where all the cars will be built, because the next year will be full tilt production when all the moves are complete."

 

I do not think that the union leadership would approve- nor the membership pass- a contract that closes any major assembly plants (and even engine and transmission plants) given the fact that Ford just dumped so much money into Mexico. I could see a scenario where the Explorer moves to MAP since Ford probably could not do without it on the dealer lots since CAP is the sole source of it. However, I think that CAP would get another product such as the next-gen Fusion.

Edited by Footballfan
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do you know how goofy u sound? my friend of a friend of a friend, really? how about my friends dogs half owner half brothers sisters cousins neice said ford is going to move FRAP to mexico.

 

The point was my friend didn't ask the Lincoln rep any questions when they were first introduced, the rep said "you work at FRAP?", and then told him what Lincoln was planning. It was the same master plan that I heard from people in the Glass House (not dogs half owner....), friends at the pilot plant, launch and new model members, and maintenance members. All first person, direct questions answered, except for my friend in Trim, who was suprised by all the info. The plan is not a company secret, they just can't specify every detail, as they can change before the official announcements. Each and every person said FRAP is getting as many Lincolns as it can produce, and when we don't have enough room for the Mustang, they will move it. If the brand expansion of Lincoln pays off with the billions being put into it, then it will happen. If it fails and we can't compete with Cadillac, then those plans would obviously change. You must not have learned how to connect the dots. When you get the same info from multiple reliable sources (not floor gossip), and our Lincoln engineers are being sent to every plant in North America, taking every measurement possible and then coming back to FRAP during our shutdown to re-measure all our floor space and recommend we move our door line and engine line to make new flexible assembly lines for Chassis, that should confirm the possibility AND probability of their plan. Contract talks will impact those decisions, and no one knows what the final lineup will be yet, but we have made multiple vehicles ( 3 ) at the same time in the past, had 2 different platforms running at the same time (one front wheel drive, one rear wheel drive...hell 2 DIFFERENT COMPANIES at the same time, so if they put enough money into it, they will figure out how to run 4 or 5 cars at the same time. We've never been a typical plant, and never had the luxury of having a great selling vehicle to max out production. The company will build cars where it wants to, and hopefully we will negotiate to keep as many in the U.S. and Canada as possible.

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The point was my friend didn't ask the Lincoln rep any questions when they were first introduced, the rep said "you work at FRAP?", and then told him what Lincoln was planning. It was the same master plan that I heard from people in the Glass House (not dogs half owner....), friends at the pilot plant, launch and new model members, and maintenance members. All first person, direct questions answered, except for my friend in Trim, who was suprised by all the info. The plan is not a company secret, they just can't specify every detail, as they can change before the official announcements. Each and every person said FRAP is getting as many Lincolns as it can produce, and when we don't have enough room for the Mustang, they will move it. If the brand expansion of Lincoln pays off with the billions being put into it, then it will happen. If it fails and we can't compete with Cadillac, then those plans would obviously change. You must not have learned how to connect the dots. When you get the same info from multiple reliable sources (not floor gossip), and our Lincoln engineers are being sent to every plant in North America, taking every measurement possible and then coming back to FRAP during our shutdown to re-measure all our floor space and recommend we move our door line and engine line to make new flexible assembly lines for Chassis, that should confirm the possibility AND probability of their plan. Contract talks will impact those decisions, and no one knows what the final lineup will be yet, but we have made multiple vehicles ( 3 ) at the same time in the past, had 2 different platforms running at the same time (one front wheel drive, one rear wheel drive...hell 2 DIFFERENT COMPANIES at the same time, so if they put enough money into it, they will figure out how to run 4 or 5 cars at the same time. We've never been a typical plant, and never had the luxury of having a great selling vehicle to max out production. The company will build cars where it wants to, and hopefully we will negotiate to keep as many in the U.S. and Canada as possible.

meh, what ? wall of text=FAIL

rumors enough to wipe my azz

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You do have a awesome name! Can't wait to see the movie Pixels. And I was talking about the asswhole that likes to type a freaking book for every post not you. Lots of college professors/autoworkers on this site. I guess University of Michigan lost a lot of professors to the assembly line.

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You do have a awesome name! Can't wait to see the movie Pixels. And I was talking about the asswhole that likes to type a freaking book for every post not you. Lots of college professors/autoworkers on this site. I guess University of Michigan lost a lot of professors to the assembly line.

ha ha , lol very true tho!

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