Ford is considering investing $1 billion in Michigan

According to Mark Shields of Ford Motor Company, Ford is considering investing one billion dollars in research and facilities in the state of MIchigan. The following remarks were made as part of his speech on August 9, 2006 at the Center for Automotive Research’s 41st annual Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich.

Media.Ford.com: SPEECH: FORD CONFIRMS NEW SHELBY GT AND LINCOLN MKS SEDAN; $1 BILLION POTENTIAL INVESTMENT TO BUILD MORE PRODUCTS

Just as we’re asking the people in the state of Michigan to believe in Ford, we want to make it very clear that the Ford Motor Company believes in the future of Michigan.

Today, I’m happy to announce that we are working with the state on a new partnership to try to ensure that a good portion of our investments in future products remain right here in our back yard.

Ford is considering investments of up to $1 billion in several Michigan facilities as part of our Way Forward and our product-led turnaround.

The investments would be dedicated to expanding flexible manufacturing at several of our facilities here in Michigan and be used for the research and development of future products, advanced powertrain technologies and hybrid vehicles.

To be fair, these new investments are not yet finalized, but we will continue to work with the state and our various facilities, and make decisions as part of our Way Forward plans.

Ford recently announced it would be investing one billion dollars in the UK to develop hybrid technology there, as well. It seems Ford may have backed off of its promise to create 250,000 hybrid cars by 2010, but they haven't given up on the technology. Maybe they just could not produce that many hybrids in such a short period of time, given the scarcity of materials (i.e. the Prius has been limited in sales for a few months now by availability, not by demand).

I spotted this story over at greencarcongress.