Nov 08, 2012 12:15 PM EST
Ford Motor Company: Flexible Michigan Assembly Plant Makes History, Launches C-Max Energi Plug-in Hybrid, How The Vehicle Stacks Up vs. Toyota

Ford continued to make history this week by stating that they will be producing their fifth type of vehicle all from the same production line at their Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Detroit.  MAP is the world's only motor vehicle plant to produce electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrids, and gasoline vehicles all on the same assembly line.

The plant is also the only location that builds vehicles with 40 mpg or over in real-world driving according to The Sacramento Bee. The plant got its start by producing two full-sized SUVs before the company decided to expand production at the plant.

The vehicles that the company currently produces at the plant includes:

The C-Max Hybrid

The C-Max Energi

The Focus ST

The Focus with SFE (Super Fuel Economy)

The Focus Electric

After the introduction of new vehicles like the Escape, C-Max, and Fusion Ford now holds the upper hand in fuel economy in every segment where both company's compete according to Toyota.

The C-Max Energi is the most fuel-efficient car in the U.S. by delivering 108 MPG of city driving.

The car is also the most affordable plug-in hybrid with a selling price of just $25,200 and has 195 horsepower, which is better than the Toyota Prius, its closest competition, by over 50 horsepower. The C-Max is the fifth major released vehicle to be produced at MAP.    

"Michigan Assembly Plant is setting a new global standard for flexible manufacturing, and is a central part of Ford's important milestone, sweeping Toyota across the board for economy leadership," said Jim Tetreault, Ford vice president of North America Manufacturing said to The Sacramento Bee. "The transformation of this plant is proof of how our One Ford plan has transformed our products, giving our customers industry-leading choices for hybrids, plug-ins, electrics and EcoBoost-powered vehicles."

Just four years ago Ford's Manufacturing Development teams started constructing plans to develop a better production platform design which would allow the company to use machines to produce more products at MAP.

Over 80 percent of work can now be programmed according to Ford, which allows them to not only put out models quicker but make changes to vehicles before they are released. 

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