Page 32 - On The Move - Volume 18, Issue 3

Ford Building Sixth-Gen Bronco After 25-Year Hiatus

Almost exactly 25 years after ending the Bron- Suzy Deering, Ford chief marketing officer, says in
co’s 30-year production run, Ford resumes building a news release. “And this Bronco is better than ever.
the 4x4 SUV at its Michigan Assembly Plant in We’re staying authentic to Bronco’s goes-over-any-
Wayne, MI. terrain heritage and have leveraged the brand’s
Two-door and the first-ever 4-door ’21-mod- Built Wild innovative design, durability and ad-
el-year Broncos are being shipped to Ford dealer- vanced off-road capability to get the most out of
ships from the plant, which underwent $750 mil- every adventure in the wild.”
lion in upgrades and added 2,700 jobs – raising A 1.7 million-sq.-ft. (158,000-sq.-m) Modifi-
total employment at Michigan Assembly to 4,900 cation Center adjacent to Michigan Assembly will
– to build the sixth generation of the SUV. offer Bronco two- and four-door model customi- The Michigan Truck Plant – now the Michigan As-
Ford says more than 125,000 Broncos have zations including front-bumper safari bars, roof sembly Plant – began building the original Bronco
been ordered, with a total of more than 190,000 racks, exterior graphic packages and additional in 1965. Production continued through five gener-
reservations in the U.S. and Canada to date. The accessories as more are added to the catalog. Bron- ations and ended June 12, 1996. During that 31-
base model starts at $29,995. co owners can also choose from among more than year span, Ford produced more than 1.1 million
“We know the fans have been waiting for 200 factory-backed accessories added at the dealer- Broncos.
The most advanced solutions for vehicle
the Bronco – and we’re so excited to bring it back,” ship for maximum personalization. Source: WardsAuto

Detroit Becomes ‘Jeep City’ with First recovery, handling and towing
New Auto Plant in 30 Years

Inside the first new auto assembly plant built for pickup trucks and decked-out gasoline-fueled
in the Motor City since 1991, the smell of hot met- SUVs still pays the bills.
al hangs in the air as new Jeep Grand Cherokee L As the Mack assembly complex accelerates,
SUVs head down the welding line. Stellantis will have two adjacent factories in Detroit
For Stellantis NV, that is the smell of money. capable of building 500,000 or more Grand Chero-
For the City of Detroit, it means nearly 5,000 jobs. kee models a year. The nearby Jefferson North Jeep Nissan to Unveil
Stellantis opened the doors of its new $1.6 billion plant was built in 1991 - and until now was the Mo-
Mack Avenue assembly complex in June, showing tor City's newest assembly plant. New Z Car in NYC
off parts of a 3 million square foot complex com- Mario Holmes, the manager who oversaw the
pleted and launched into production largely during development of the Grand Cherokee L, said much
the pandemic. effort went into designing a new, more efficient After months of internet leaks and the debut of
The Grand Cherokee L vehicles on the assem- architecture that uses aluminum and high-strength a tantalizingly complete concept car, Nissan finally
bly line are the first of a new generation of Jeep's steel to cut weight. Though the new model has announces a reveal date for its new Z car. The auto-
maker will take the wraps off its newest sports car in
best-selling model line, aimed at expanding the three rows of seats, it's in the same weight class as
New York City on Aug. 17.
brand's sales to customers who want an SUV with five-passenger SUVs, he said.
three rows of seats. There will be an electrified powertrain offered, The list of things that we don’t know about
Until now, Grand Cherokees only offered seat- but details on that will come later, he said. the new Z car currently outweighs the list of things
ing for five. Now, with room for as many as seven One sign of the importance of the Grand Cher- that we do know, but if the Z Proto concept car is any
indication, the car will have been worth the wait.
passengers, Jeep can take on rivals such as Ford okee L is that Brieda, the plant manager, said he
The new Z is expected be powered by a twin-turbo
Motor Co's Explorer, General Motors Co's GMC Aca- has had no problems getting enough semiconduc-
dia and larger SUVs from European and Japanese tors for the new model, even as Stellantis is idling V-6 and should be available with a manual trans-
brands. assembly lines for other vehicles amid a global mission. Power is expected to hit the rear wheels,
The plant, which began building vehicles in shortage of the chips needed for modern motoring adding up to an enthusiast-friendly performance
equation.
March, now is operating three shifts a day, plant systems. CARTRACT 4 can move all locked We made the machine able to:
manager Michael Brieda said. Source: Reuters In terms of styling, internet leaks have shown
In a tight labor market, Brieda said the the production Z likely won’t stray too far from the vehicles with the four wheels • Take all vehicles up to 2.5 tons and 3 meters wheelbase
biggest challenge the plant had "was finding path blazed by the Z Proto. Sharp lines and a sweep- • Park a vehicle the nearest from another one (nearest than
people capable of working in a manufactur- ing roof will define its profile, with only the grille locked and it can fit to all size of
and rear end deviating from the concept car. If the can do a driver) which means that you can win space
ing environment." Job applicants were given
new Z ends up following the naming convention set vehicle, from the smallest like a
dexterity tests as part of their interviews, he • Pass over small obstacles (doorsill or threshold gate)
said. by its predecessors, we could see a 400Z logo or sim- Renault Twingo to the biggest,
About 2,100 Detroit City residents have ilar nameplate on its rear decklid. • No CO2 emission, so you can work in a workshop safely
been hired at the plant, the company said. Nissan’s teaser announcement does nothing like an Audi Q7. • Easy to use, you can learn to drive it in less than an hour
but fan the flames of anticipation for the new car,
The new Jeep plant underscores the
so we’ll have to wait until August to learn more.
split personality of the United States vehicle
market, where most of the vehicles coming Further speculation has pegged November 2021 as Email: info@eastractna.com
down the Mack assembly line will be sold. the timeframe for orders to open, so gather your pa-
770-366-0206
But for Detroit's automakers, demand tience and mark your calendars.
Source: WardsAuto 770-366-0206
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