Hope this isn’t a repeat…Just thought it was pretty cool and thought of Vlad (who happened to be in my Russian class in HS)
by Jason Reiss on April 14, 2013
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All Photos: © Ford Motor Company
For the first time ever, the Ford Explorer, one of FoMoCo’s best-selling vehicles over its lifespan, has begun production outside the United States, as Ford Sollers Elabuga Assembly Plant started rolling yesterday. The plant, located in the Republic of Tatarstan, is expected to help Ford meet the sharply-rising global demand for its iconic sport-utility vehicle. Previously, the SUV had never been built outside US borders, although the Elabuga plant had been bolting together what’s called a “knock-down” since last year. A knock-down is a partially-assembled vehicle that was exported along with the parts needed to complete them from the Explorer plant in Chicago, Illinois, and then finish-assembled in the Elabuga plant, but the rising demand for the vehicle made external production a necessity.
Since the Explorer debuted in 1990, Ford has sold nearly 7 million of the various versions of the people-and-pets-mover. Last year Ford Motor Company exported over 24,000 Explorers to 64 countries including Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, but with the Russian SUV market accounting for 31 percent of new-vehicle sales in 2012, the decision was made to extend the plant’s operations to fully-built vehicles. According to Ted Cannis, president and CEO of Ford Sollers, ““Russia is on its way to being the largest market in Europe and presents an enormous opportunity for growth. We anticipate SUV sales to continue to grow as Russian customers prefer the image and performance these utility vehicles provide in severe weather and challenging road conditions.”
The Ford Production System has been rolling out since 2012 to its 65 worldwide plants, is designed to improve flexibility, process and quality, along with investment efficiency and capacity utilization. The foreign-built SUV’s will be built to the same quality standards as Explorers built here in the United States, and over time, the plant expects to have over 2,000 employees working to achieve their production goals.
http://www.stangtv.com/news/ford-begins-explorer-production-in-russia-for-2013/
