Wixom Assembly Plant

Wixom Assembly plant

The Ford Wixom Assembly Plant was a Ford Motor Company automobile assembly plant in Wixom, Michigan, United States.

History

The Wixom assembly plant was one of Ford's largest and oldest manufacturing sites. It opened April 15, 1957, and was ultimately expanded to encompass 4.7 million square feet, and replaced the former Lincoln Motor Company Plant located at 6200 West Warren Avenue (at Livernois).[1] Over the plant's 50 years of operation it produced 6,648,806 automobiles.[2] The first car manufactured was the Continental Mark II, and the last car produced was a white chocolate Lincoln Town Car which rolled off the line at 12:55pm on May 31, 2007.[3]

The plant was mainly used for the manufacture of Lincolns and the Ford Thunderbird. The Lincoln Town Car and the Ford GT were also produced there. Production of the Lincoln LS ended in early April 2006[4] and production of the Ford GT stopped on September 21,[5] leaving the Town Car as the plant's final Ford Motor Company product.

Wixom was the most profitable plant in the industry during the 1980s when Cadillac downsized its lineup and lost ground to Lincoln. Due to Lincoln's falling sales, Ford announced on January 23, 2006 that the Wixom plant would be sold in 2007 as part of The Way Forward. Some analysts argued that the plant might not be closed. A report in The Oakland Press stated, "The fate of the Wixom plant, however, will depend on the shape of Ford's future product plan, which seems to be currently in flux." Michigan governor, Jennifer Granholm, reportedly offered $115 million in tax cuts to keep the plant open. The plant was nonetheless sold in 2007, and by mid-June 2008, while Ford was able to find buyers for other idled plants, Wixom remained unsold until 2008 buyout by General Motors.[6]

A couple of alternative energy uses were announced, but none came to fruition. In 2012, Ford began tearing down the old plant. The next year the Baidas family, owners and operators of General RV Center, sought and were awarded[7] mixed use zoning permits in an area nearby of the Wixom property. In 2014 the family broke ground on 33 acres near the old Ford Wixom property to build a new corporate headquarters and RV Dealership. A Menards outlet has also been built on the site.

Products

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Historic timeline: Wixom Assembly Plant". Media.Ford.com. May 31, 2007. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  2. ↑ "Fact sheet: Wixom Assembly Plant". Media.Ford.com. May 31, 2007. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  3. ↑ "Production ends at Wixom Assembly Plant, Lincoln Town Car moves to St. Thomas". Media.Ford.com. May 31, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
  4. ↑ "Lincoln LS run will end". LeftLaneNews. April 3, 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  5. ↑ "Shelby GT500 claims Ford performance torch – with new TV commercial - as Ford GT ends its run". Media.Ford.com. September 8, 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  6. ↑ Brent Snavely and Alex P. Kellogg. (June 13, 2008). "Ford sells off its 2nd closed plant in week". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  7. ↑ http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20130725/NEWS/130729903/general-rv-plans-to-build-dealership-on-part-of-old-ford-wixom-site

Coordinates: 42°30′14″N 83°32′27″W / 42.50389°N 83.54083°W / 42.50389; -83.54083

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