New Ford Product at Flat Rock plant

[llinthicum1]

Anyone care to speculate what product will be added to Flat Rock Assembly Plant?

Source: UAW Ford Agreement (October 2023)

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[rockstar B]

Not sure, but excellent find!

 

[Skye]

https://fortune.com/2023/11/05/detr...is-more-electric-vehicles-uaw-union-contract/

https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...lans-ford-factory-plants-product/71394184007/

$50M for Flat Rock. Relative to the other plants, not so much $.

The second article highlights a lot of EV activity, from new battery packs to vehicles. Seeing as how the DH is still in Year 1, it seems too soon for an S650 GT500-like variant. I wonder if Ford is leaning forward to the sometimes-discussed Mustang hybrid. Ford evolved other lines into hybrid models and later full electrics (see F150).

@Ford Motor Company , c'mon, you can tell us. We'll keep it G14 Classified. . We promise.

 

[MustangMac67]

Maybe a new sports car that is not a mustang? (Probably not) I would think it would be another mustang variant such as a Shelby, or a cobra.

 

[Pdaddy1280]

Doesn’t seem like enough money to do a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Stangerous]

Anyone care to speculate what product will be added to Flat Rock Assembly Plant?

Source: UAW Ford Agreement (October 2023)

Robots to take the place of some of these union workers that are doing sub par work and demanding more money?

 

[IceGamer]

It somewhat has to be a Mustang like car. The plant itself is outdated or at least not fit with anything needed for a modern car. The platform itself is also Mustang exclusive so I would bet another Mustang-like car is coming. $50 million is also not that much so I expect them to retool FlatRock for either hybrids or something else.
It says 'new product will be added'... Could be a car or just parts of it - like an engine. However, as far as I remember all Coyote engines are now produced in Canada and I don't see such a strong demand in the future to justify another engine plant... Especially not after the Romeo plant shut down in 2019.

I was a big hybrid advocate a couple of years ago but by now I don't see any point in building a hybrid Mustang. They're heavy and expensive and AWD could be added without an electric front engine. Besides, the electric hype is receding and since Ford can use other fullEV cars to reduce emissions I don’t expect Ford to build one. I expect Ford to use the relatively small sum of $50 million to keep FlatRock around till this generation of Mustangs dies out towards the end of the decade.

 

[Zig]

‘Pending program approval’ … placeholder for we’re flexible and willing to discuss but not ready to commit? Scaling back on ev may seem to indicate more pending than approval….

 

[NegativeMultiplier]

I have a few hypotheses.

Most likely, this is investment for the next GT500. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be. Rumors have been floating around that a GT500 would be coming in 2024 as a 2025 model.

Second, it could be an old image, and the note was there as allocation of resources for the Mustang GTD.

The lesser likely of the theories to me is that maybe the CX799 Coupe that was mentioned earlier in the year could instead be produced at FRAP instead of in Mexico. I don't think the investment is large enough for this personally, but anything can happen.

And the most wild theory is maybe a mid-engine Mustang is, in fact, on the way.

Whatever the case is, I'll be keeping an eye out for any personalities that went quiet following the order banks opening to start talking again, since some of them had their speculations hit the nail on the head.

 

[DeluxeStang]

https://fortune.com/2023/11/05/detr...is-more-electric-vehicles-uaw-union-contract/

https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...lans-ford-factory-plants-product/71394184007/

$50M for Flat Rock. Relative to the other plants, not so much $.

The second article highlights a lot of EV activity, from new battery packs to vehicles. Seeing as how the DH is still in Year 1, it seems too soon for an S650 GT500-like variant. I wonder if Ford is leaning forward to the sometimes-discussed Mustang hybrid. Ford evolved other lines into hybrid models and later full electrics (see F150).

@Ford Motor Company , c'mon, you can tell us. We'll keep it G14 Classified. . We promise.

I read that as a 50 million dollar investment to keep s650 production running smoothly, with more money coming if this product is approved. Keep in mind, it's the only car on this list that says pending approval, it's not a sure thing like all the other product allocations. So I wouldn't make sense for them to throw 500 million at a plant if they weren't even sure if this new product was gonna be added.

I highly doubt it's s650 based, because Ford has always said mustang and derivatives in these contracts in the past. They're framing this as a new product entirely. It could be a mustang hybrid, but they were open about mentioning upcoming expedition and navigator hybrids in these same plans, so there's no reason to hid it. So I feel like they would have said mustang hybrid if that's the case.

 

[DeluxeStang]

I'm hopeful, maybe it's a mustang raptor, or sedan. Fingers crossed it's something even cooler than that, like the mid engine mustang we've discussed. It's no secret that Ford and Red Bull are developing an upcoming EV together. All Faley said is teams with F1 experience are working on the areo as a skunkworks secretive project. So it could be something pertaining to whatever that is.

Or it could even be a c2 based fusion, like the Tarus they're selling overseas. Flat rock, as we know, can only build cars, so whatever this is, it has to be car based. It could be a mustang, but they've always grouped mustangs together in the past in these contracts. This sounds like a separate product, plus it needs additional approval, which doesn't sound like something you'd need for a new Shelby mustang or something like that.

 

[Dena]

Curious. The Ford Edge isn't listed but I don't know where it is manufactured. Michigan does the stamp work for the mustang but no additional work is listed for a special project in Michigan. We can guess all we want but that's the point of a secret. Don't let anybody know your plans until your ready to let them know. I would guess what ever they are going to do will not be a full EV. It might be a hybrid as they have a design for an electric assisted V8. More than likely it could be something using the EcoBoost to balance out the high power mustangs.
My roommate as a former LEO would like a Crown Victoria replacement as vans don't really make great cop cars. Families and the taxi market could also use a CV replacement but is the market big enough for Ford to go in that direction?
Personally, Vans are just to much like driving a truck and foreign manufactures have free run of the car market. Much like the oil crisis of the 70s. The market wanted a car that Detroit didn't have so Japan got a foothold in the U.S. market that they never gave up.
In short, will Ford be smart or make another Edsel.

 

[roket]

Anyone care to speculate what product will be added to Flat Rock Assembly Plant?

Source: UAW Ford Agreement (October 2023)

some interesting things
1. new EV truck at Dearborn? maybe bringing back the Mark LT and/or Blackwood?
2. Expedition and Navigator hybrids? hopefully something the US will actually get
3. new EV product at Louisville, it's gotta be a small SUV, perhaps a full electric Escape/Corsair
4. new EV van at Ohio, my guess is an E-series or maybe electrify the F-650 and F-750

honestly surprised that Ford is going further with EVs even though Mach Es and Lightnings are not nearly as hot as they were. my dealer has something like 60 or 70 EVs hanging around, collecting dust and taking up parking

 

[Dena]

honestly surprised that Ford is going further with EVs even though Mach Es and Lightnings are not nearly as hot as they were. my dealer has something like 60 or 70 EVs hanging around, collecting dust and taking up parking

I will need to be down there probably next week so I should wander around the lot and see that. If EVs go the way I think they will, that many EVs assembled in one area could become a rare sight in the future.

 

[Zig]

I will need to be down there probably next week so I should wander around the lot and see that. If EVs go the way I think they will, that many EVs assembled in one area could become a rare sight in the future.

For some reason that made me think of this: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/28/atari-et-video-game

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