Ford to Shutter Truck Plants

Ford announced today that they plan to close down their Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. Paul, Minn., and the Norfolk Assembly Plant in Virginia sometime in 2008 as part of their new “Way Forward” plan. From the news release:

“A decision to end production at a plant is not an easy one and I’m deeply mindful of the impact this decision has on Ford employees, families and communities,” explains Mark Fields, Ford Motor Company executive vice president and president of The Americas. “Unfortunately, these are necessary steps we must take to move the business forward.”

The Twin Cities plant assembles the Ford Ranger (slated to be phased out in 2008), while the Norfolk plant is one of 4 that assemble a variety of F150 models.
Already announced plant closures include Atlanta Assembly, Batavia (Ohio) Transmission, St. Louis Assembly, Wixom (Mich.) Assembly and Windsor (Ontario) Casting.

Check out the Ford release or an article on the closures by David Phillips over at the Detroit News. – [Jeff James]