April 17th, 1964. That was the day that the automotive world was turned
on it's ear. It was on this day that Ford Motor Company unveiled the all
new 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang. Launched at the New York Worlds Fair, the
Mustang quickly rose to be Ford's best selling car since the Model A. It
also launched the pony car craze that led to the muscle car. Ford sold
over 400,000 Mustangs in 1964. 100,000 of which were sold in the first 3
months of production.
That leads us to today's milestone. 49 years to the day of the
introduction of the Mustang, Ford's Flat Rock, Michigan plant produced
it's 1 millionth Mustang. Production of the Mustang was moved to Flat
Rock from the famous Rouge factory in 2004 for the launch of the
redesigned 2005 Mustang. Since 1964, over 8.5 million Mustangs have been
tearing up American roads.
The car, a ruby red 2014 convertible was driven off the line by Raj
Nair, Ford's Vice President for global product development. The
production of the 1 millionth Flat Rock Mustang also helps to launch the
50th anniversary year of the Mustang.
Source: Ford Motor Co.
Press release:
FLAT ROCK, Mich., April 17, 2013 – Happy Birthday Mustang!
Forty-nine years to the day after its 1964 debut in New York, the iconic
sports car celebrates another milestone: One million Mustangs have
rolled off the line at Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant since production
moved there in 2004. Ford is celebrating this milestone as year 50 of
continuous Mustang production gets under way at Flat Rock Assembly.
Raj Nair, group vice president for global product development,
today rode off the line at Flat Rock Assembly Plant in a Ruby Red 2014
Mustang convertible. Nair was riding shotgun with Ed Salna, material
planning and logistics manager at the plant. Salna is a 27-year veteran
of Flat Rock Assembly, starting work there more than a year before the
plant produced its first car.
“Mustang is one of the most beloved nameplates in the industry,
with fans around the world and throughout Ford Motor Company,” said
Nair. “The team here at Flat Rock Assembly has built an outstanding
reputation for quality while producing one million Mustangs over the
last nine years, and we expect that to continue for many years to come.”
Ford has built Mustangs near its home base in Dearborn, Mich. for
49 years. The car was built at Ford’s famous Rouge factory, just a few
minutes from company headquarters, for four decades before moving a few
miles south to Flat Rock in 2004.
Introduced in April 1964, Mustang proved to be far more popular
than anyone expected, prompting Ford to add production capacity outside
Michigan. By early 1965 plants in Metuchen, N.J. and San Jose, Calif.
were also building Mustang. Less than two years later, on Wednesday,
March 2, 1966, the one-millionth Mustang rolled off the line in
Dearborn. To date, Ford has produced and sold more than 8.5 million
Mustangs.
The launch of Mustang production at Flat Rock coincided with
introduction of the then all-new fifth-generation model – first in the
series to get a dedicated platform. In addition to the standard V6 and
the V8-powered GT model, Mustangs coming out of Flat Rock Assembly Plant
have included several special editions and race cars:
- In 2006 Flat Rock built a limited run of black and gold Shelby
GT-H coupes for Hertz rental fleets to commemorate the 1966 Shelby
GT350H rental car
- 2007 brought the debut of the Shelby GT500 Mustang developed by
SVT with a supercharged 5.4-liter V8 producing 500 horsepower, the most
ever for a Mustang then
- For the 2008 and 2009 model years, the Mustang lineup included
the Bullitt, inspired by the car driven by the title character in the
1968 film of the same name
- For the 2012 and 2013 model years, Flat Rock built the track-optimized Boss 302
- The Flat Rock line has produced numerous competition versions of
Mustang including the FR500, Boss 302R and the extremely successful
Cobra Jet drag racer
The Flat Rock factory has been producing vehicles since 1987, when
it opened as Mazda Motor Manufacturing USA and built the Mazda MX-6. In
1992 Ford purchased a 50 percent share in the plant and it was renamed
AutoAlliance International. Over the years Flat Rock Assembly has
produced the Mazda 626, Mazda6, Mercury Cougar and Ford Probe. In
addition to Mustang, Flat Rock will add production of the Fusion sedan
later this year.
“Flat Rock has gone through an amazing transformation over the past
year,” said Tim Young, plant manager, Flat Rock Assembly Plant. “We’ve
invested $555 million including a state-of-the-art, fully flexible body
shop and an upgraded paint shop to make sure we’re continuing to build
the best of the best for the next one million Mustangs.”
“The one-millionth Mustang is a true testament to the hard work and
dedication of the Flat Rock Local 3000 membership,” said Tony Bondy,
UAW Local 3000 chairman. “It’s been great building an iconic American
car since 2004, and with the introduction of Fusion along with our new
plant upgrades, we will keep building world-class quality in Flat Rock
for years to come.”
Ford is adding 1,400 jobs and a second shift at Flat Rock Assembly
Plant to support new Fusion production as part of its plan to add 12,000
hourly jobs in the United States through 2015.
