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2015 Ford F-150 begins rolling off line at second factory

Ford needs more F-150s. Yeah, we just told you that a few days ago. The Blue Oval is reporting that its trucks are spending a mere 18 days on dealer lots, following a January that was the truck's best month in over a decade. Considering both of those facts, the timing is perfect for Ford to ramp up production of its all-aluminum truck by bringing its Kansas City, MO factory online. KC Assembly has been building F-150s for decades, and completed a $1.1-billion expansion to accommodate the all-aluminum 2015 truck (as well as for work on the Transit van). Similar to what was done at Ford's Dearborn, MI factory, the Blue Oval spent 13 weeks upgrading the plant's body shop, paint shop and a road-test course. Over 900 jobs were added as part of the update. Combined with the equally upgraded plant in metro Detroit, Ford can build 700,000 trucks per year. "The all-new F-150 has surpassed our expectations – setting new standards for fullsize truck capability, technology and efficiency," Joe Hinrichs, Ford's Americas president said in a statement. "With production starting at Kansas City Assembly, we are better poised to start meeting growing customer demand for our pickup." Scroll down for the official press blast from the Blue Oval. Related Video: KANSAS CITY ASSEMBLY PLANT COMES ON LINE AS SECOND U.S. FACTORY BUILDING ALL-NEW FORD F-150 2015 Ford F-150 starts production at Kansas City Assembly Plant; along with three shifts in operation at Dearborn Truck Plant, Ford is now producing even more units of the toughest, smartest, most capable F-150 ever All-new F-150 is turning more than four times faster than the overall full-size pickup truck segment; In addition to producing all F-150 models and cab configurations, Kansas City exclusively builds specialty F-150s with 8-foot cargo boxes and heavy payload packages to meet the needs of commercial fleet customers Kansas City Assembly Plant facilities transformed with the latest in manufacturing technology to build the first mass-produced truck in its class featuring a high-strength, military-grade, aluminum-alloy body and bed CLAYCOMO, Mo., March 13, 2015 – Ford today marks the official start of production of the all-new 2015 F-150 at Kansas City Assembly Plant, which joins Dearborn Truck Plant in building the toughest, smartest, most capable F-150 ever. This means Ford has expanded production of the first mass-produced light-duty pickup truck with a high-strength, military-grade, aluminum-alloy body.

Translogic 177: Ford Research and Innovation Center

Translogic heads to Ford's Research and Innovation Center in Silicon Valley for a peek behind the scenes at the latest tech being produced by the Blue Oval. We hear why the automaker moved some of its R&D operations from Dearborn, MI to Palo Alto, CA, and get an early look at the all-new Ford GT supercar with Ford CEO Mark Fields. "Coming here to Silicon Valley, we really want to make a lot of progress on mobility, autonomous vehicles, [and] using analytics," said Fields. "So coming to Silicon Valley was ... to go to where the talent is, but also, importantly, to be a part of the community here." As for the GT, Ford's top boss is pleased with the tech driving the forthcoming supercar. "It's really a decades worth of innovation in areas of light-weighting, in areas of EcoBoost engines, and in areas of aerodynamics." Have an RSS feed? Click here to add Translogic. Follow Translogic on Twitter and Facebook. Click here to learn more about our host, Jonathon Buckley. Ford Technology Emerging Technologies Translogic Videos Original Video Mark Fields

Automakers, dealers are rushing cars to Houston after Harvey

DETROIT — Houston-area car retailers and automakers are rushing to reopen dealerships and beef up inventory to replace many hundreds of thousands of vehicles damaged in flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Pete DeLongchamps, vice president for manufacturer relations at Group 1 Automotive, the third-largest U.S. auto dealer group, said the company prepared for the storm with a plan designed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This included moving moved inventory to higher ground and cleaning roof drains to avoid cave-ins. Group 1 thus lost a "relatively small percentage" of inventory and reopened its roughly 25 dealerships in the Houston and Beaumont area by Thursday. "Things have been moving fast and furious with a large number of tow-ins already," DeLongchamps said. "Our customers have lost a lot of vehicles, we need to help them replace." Harvey brought record flooding to Houston and killed at least 35 people. The storm is expected to briefly depress already slowing U.S. auto sales but could eventually help boost demand as damaged cars are replaced. Automakers report U.S. August sales on Friday. Estimates for the number of Harvey-damaged vehicles needing replacement range up to 500,000. By Thursday, AutoNation, the largest U.S. auto retail chain, had reopened its 17 Houston stores and is moving cars and trucks from other regions, company spokesman Marc Cannon said. The company plans to move 500 to 1,000 used cars to an AutoNation USA used car store and stage a sale Sept. 21-23, when many would-be buyers should have insurance checks to replace destroyed vehicles, Cannon said. AutoNation is still assessing how many vehicles it lost, but it too moved vehicles to higher ground ahead of the storm. General Motors spokesman Jim Cain said the number of damaged vehicles at dealerships "is relatively modest." "But there are still several dealerships that are inaccessible, so the number will increase," he said. GM will move new and used vehicles to Houston, "but it won't be done until the infrastructure and our dealers are ready." Ford is still assessing damage and inventory needs, a spokeswoman said. CarMax, the biggest U.S. used car dealer, will reopen its six Houston area stores on Labor Day, spokeswoman Claire Hunter said. "We are mobilizing additional inventory to the region as we speak," Hunter said. Paul Lips, chief operating officer at ADESA, a unit of KAR Auction Services Inc., which with Manheim dominates the U.S.