Ford Expects Fusion Output to Exceed Mazda6 at Flat Rock

FLAT ROCK, MI – Ford isn’t officially revealing how many ’13 Fusion midsize sedans it will build at the plant here, but the auto maker’s manufacturing chief says volume likely will exceed the Mazda6 it replaces.

“Mazda6 sales were quite variable over the last couple of years, and we hope (the) Fusion has steadier demand, so that should result in more production,” James Tetreault, vice president-North America manufacturing, tells WardsAuto at an event to celebrate Ford’s takeover of the Flat Rock facility.

Sales of the current-generation Mazda6, which began production here in June 2008, have been steady, but the sedan never sold the volume Mazda anticipated.

The Mazda6 began strong, with 23,212 sales in the first seven months, according to WardsAuto data. In 2009, the car’s first full year, deliveries jumped to 34,866, rising to a still-tepid 35,622 in 2010 before inching up to 35,711 last year.

The Mazda6’s lack of success led the Hiroshima-based auto maker to pull production from the joint-venture operation.

Tetreault says the Fusion’s overflow volume will be built at Flat Rock, while the bulk of production will come from Ford’s plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. However, only models with conventional internal-combustion engines will be built here, with hybrid-electric and plug-in hybrid versions to be assembled exclusively in Hermosillo.

“We’re constrained right now (on Fusion output) because of Hermosillo,” he says. “But (Hermosillo) has roughly 2.5 times the capacity for (the) Fusion that we will have here.”

Ford sold 248,067 Fusions in 2011, according to WardsAuto data.

Ford today renames the facility the Flat Rock Assembly Plant, replacing the former AutoAlliance International moniker. But while the U.S. auto maker now has control of the plant, it will continue to operate under the JV agreement with its Japanese partner, Tetreault says.

“Mazda still has a financial stake in the JV and is looking at what to do with that in the future,” he says, declining to reveal whether Mazda could build a future vehicle here or whether Ford plans to add another model.

To accommodate Fusion production, slated to begin next year, Ford will add 1,200 new workers at Flat Rock to form a second shift. The plant currently builds the Mustang on one shift.

Additionally, the auto maker is investing $555 million to build a fully flexible body shop capable of producing multiple vehicles and also is installing a new paint shop.

The new paint shop will utilize Ford’s 3-Wet process, which allows three layers of paint to be applied one after another while still wet, resulting in a superior finish created with fewer pollutants and less expense.

Tetreault says all of Mazda’s equipment is being dismantled and removed from the plant, noting the tooling is not flexible and only can be used to make the Mazda6. “The Mazda equipment is where the new body shop will be.”

Ford has high hopes for the new ’13 Fusion, noting midsize cars make up the fastest-growing segment in the U.S. The auto maker expects the segment, which sold 2.1 million units last year, to continue growing.

The Fusion’s share of the segment has doubled to 12% since it was introduced in 2006, and the car has set sales records in five of the first seven months of 2012.

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