Ford invests $550 million to retool Michigan plant for Focus, all-electric car

Fords storied Michigan Assembly Plant entered a new phase in its fifty-year history today, with the company’s announcement that it is investing $550 million to turn the plant from an SUV farm into a facility that will build the new Ford Focus and all-electric Focus BEV. Production of the new Focus will start in 2010, with BEV work beginning in 2011. In all, Ford has promised to deliver four new electric vehicles, including the Ford Transit Connect, by 2012. Ford’s president of The Americas, Mark Fields, succinctly described the bigger picture at Ford:

We’re changing from a company focused mainly on trucks and SUVs to a company with a balanced product lineup that includes even more high-quality, fuel-efficient small cars, hybrids and all-electric vehicles. As customers move to more fuel-efficient vehicles, we’ll be there with more of the products they really want.

Part of the $550 million investment comes from the $160 million in tax help that the state of Michigan, Wayne County and the city of Wayne have offered for the plant. To see a short history of the plant, from 1957 until today, explained with pretty pictures, click here. There are a lot more details after the jump.

Gallery: Michigan Assembly Plant History