Ford's Michigan plant to build Gas-Powered, Electric, Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles

Ford Motors on Wednesday said that it plans to build three production versions of electrified vehicles - battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles and fuel efficient gas-powered vehicles on the same assembly line in its remodeled Michigan assembly plant.

Michigan Assembly Plant, which once churned out large SUVs, has completed a $550 million transformation that will make it the world's first factory to build not only fuel-efficient gas-powered cars, but also three production versions of electrified vehicles including battery electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid, the company said in a statement.

For years, I had this vision of a green Ford Motor Company, but we didn't have the technology before, said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. Now we are electrifying mainstream vehicles.

Once the facility is ready, the Michigan assembly plant will be home to the all-new global Ford Focus, which has started production and goes on sale early next year. The Focus Electric zero-emission battery electric vehicle goes into production late next year followed by production of a new hybrid and a plug-in hybrid in 2012.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that customer wants and needs can change quickly - much more quickly than we have been equipped to efficiently respond to in the past, said Jim Tetreault, vice president in charge of North America manufacturing.

At Michigan Assembly, we will achieve a level of flexibility we don't have in any other plant around the world, which will allow us to meet shifting consumer preferences in real time.