Ford brings Hybrid jobs to Michigan

Darmstadter · May 25, 2010

Yeah, it's a handful of jobs in the big picture, but still a trend I hope continues.

Ford Motor Co. announced Monday that it would invest $135 million to expand two Michigan plants to build batteries and powertrains for its hybrid-electric vehicles.

A plant in Ypsilanti will assemble battery packs currently assembled in Mexico by a supplier. A transmission plant in Sterling Heights will build electric drive transaxles, currently built in Japan. Both operations are scheduled to begin in 2012.

The moves will add a combined 170 jobs, Ford said.

Ford said it also will add more than 50 engineers to facilities in Dearborn and Livonia to design the battery packs and electric-drive transaxles.

greg334 · May 25, 2010

The only reason for this happened at all was the BIG tax breaks they got from Michigan and the cities.

Ford will re-hire the workers who are laid off or bought out while the engineers will be outsourced. The battery plant in Mexico will still be used, for what I don't know.

IF Ford said "we are moving production of the Fiesta to Michigan" then it would be real good news.

moose · May 25, 2010

what the heck is an electric-drive transaxles. ???

greg334 · May 25, 2010

If you know what a front wheel drive car's transmission looks like, then imagine an electric motor glued to it.

NightRanger · May 25, 2010

greg334 said:
The only reason for this happened at all was the BIG tax breaks they got from Michigan and the cities.

Big tax breaks or not at least Ford is putting Americans back to work a handful or many at least it's something

greg334 · May 25, 2010

I agree to a point. But wouldn't it be a bit better that they actually start creating jobs instead of shipping things to Mexico?

The real problem is not that the tax breaks are keeping them here, but the problems that it causes with a gap in funding on many local levels is a real issue that so many over look. Even if there is 1000 jobs created, the shortfall of tax revenue is still too great to justify the tax break in the first place.

MSinger · May 27, 2010

I don't know about you all but it seems like the more I deliver to "American" companies the more they need to be using this phrase..."proudly built in America....by undocumented workers".

greg334 · May 27, 2010

Yep go to agree with that one. My pick up was difficult the other day, I could not understand the girl because of her Portuguese. Beside the fact that the fork lift driver didn't speak English but Spanish, he and the shipping girl both had to go to one of the production managers to have them interpret and he didn't speak much English at all.