Nasser confirms pickup for Rouge

Ford Motor Co. will build a small pickup at its revamped Rouge manufacturing complex when work there concludes. Chief Executive Jacques Nasser confirms the program while addressing shareholders at the company's annual meeting. But he is vague about the model, saying only it “could be” Ranger. Mr. Nasser's remarks follow speculation about the future of Ford's Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St. Paul, MN, in light of the planned Rouge ramp-up. Previous reports have said the 1,100-acre complex could accommodate production of Ranger, a miniature version of Explorer Sport Trac known as U260 and a third configuration that could be a crossover. There is no firm completion date for the Rouge rebuild. Mr. Nasser says there are no guarantees for the future of Twin Cities, but adds that manufacturing is slated there through 2005. The future of the Edison, NJ, plant, which also builds Ranger, is uncertain as well.