Ford Plant Receives Reprieve
Posted by Homes of Minnesota Team on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 12:18pm.On Thursday, Michigan-based Ford Motor Co. announced that it’s Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood will continue producing the Ranger small pickup through 2011. Previously, the plant had been scheduled to close just over a year from now.
"This is great news for the City of
In April 2006, due to decreasing sales in pick-up trucks and SUVs, Ford announced that its Twin Cities Ranger plant was to close in 2008. Then last year, the automaker extended the plant's life until 2009 because the vehicle seemed to be defying the trend. Because sales of the Ford Ranger are off only 4 percent in the first half of this year, compared to the 18 percent fewer lightweight truck sales for the rest of the industry, state and city leaders have been continuing to press Ford to reconsider.
Said Sen. Norm Coleman, who has put himself in the right a few times to save the fort plant, "I am certainly thrilled that they've seen what I saw. That is, if you're going to be in the truck business, this is the best vehicle to keep running."
The plant's hourly work force is down to 900 employees from 1,900 in 2006, when many took buyouts. Of those remaining, 240 are permanent workers and the rest temporary. It's not known if the extension will mean Ford will need to boost its workforce at the plant.
In a series of statements Thursday morning, city and state officials all vowed to continue working with Ford to keep the
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