Mazda ends 20 years of US production, Ford to take over Flat Rock, Michigan plant

The last US-built Mazda rolled off the production line at Flat Rock, Michigan on Friday, said The Detroit News. As the Japanese carmaker moves Mazda6 (pictured) production to Japan, only the Ford Mustang will continue to be built there, with overflow production of the 2013 Ford Fusion expected to join sometime in the future.

Apart from confirming the news, both manufacturers have been keeping pretty quiet, but Ford has revealed to The Detroit News that it plans to spend US$550 million expanding the factory as well as adding 1,200 jobs to the existing 1,700.

The plant, also known as AutoAlliance International, started off as a Ford casting plant in 1972, shutting its doors in 1981. Six years later it was bought by Mazda and put to work building the Ford Probe and Mazda MX-6. It has been run as a joint venture between Ford and Mazda since 1992, producing the Mazda6 and the Ford Mustang in recent times.

Mazda is opening a new plant in Salamanca, Mexico, which will produce the Mazda2 and Mazda3. Recently the Hiroshima-based manufacturer announced that production of its CX-7 SUV had ended.

Source;
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/59853/britains-depreciation-winners-and-losers