A 2015 Ford F-150 pick up from Claycomo assembly plant.
The head of Ford Motors Americas division praised the work force the the Claycomo plant during a visit Friday.
“We have the best-selling van, the best-selling truck, the best-selling vehicle, all made right here in Kansas City,” said Joe Hinrichs, a Ford executive.
Hinrichs drove the first new F-Series 150 pick-up off the assembly line today.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and others were present for the ceremony.
Ford invested part of a billion dollars into a new, high tech robotic truck assembly line.
The 2015 150 pick-up has an aluminum allot body that makes it lighter and more fuel efficient. It is proving popular. Hinrichs says the average stay for the new truck on the lot is 18 days.
The Ford Dearborn truck plant has built the aluminum alloy body since 2014. Now, Claycomo joins them.
Once again Governor Nixon said the ‘Missouri Manufacturing jobs Act,’ often just called ‘The Ford Bill’ had led to the revitalization of the auto industry in Missouri.
”Going from a place where this place might have been closed to having the number one van and the number one truck, it’s a milestone,” said Nixon.
Before passage of the measure, the aging Claycomo plant was in trouble. It lost one of its two production lines. The Ford Escape assembly was transferred outside of Missouri.
Ford, however, replaced it with the Transit commercial van and $1.1 billion dollars in remodeling at the plant.
Claycomo now has more than 7,000 workers. It is one of the largest ford plants in the world.
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