Kansas City Assembly
Encyclopedia
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
's Kansas City Assembly plant in Claycomo, Missouri
Claycomo, Missouri
Claycomo is a village in Clay County, Missouri, United States. The village’s name is formed from Clay, co , and mo . The population was 1,267 at the 2000 census...
is a large automative manufacturing plant which has been called the largest car manufacturing plant in the United States in terms of units produced.
Fortune Magazine noted that in 2004 it was producing 490,000 units a year generating a buzz that it produces "a truck a minute."
The plant is about 10 miles (16.1 km) northeast of the Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
city center. Since its opening in 1951, the Ford Claycomo Plant, as many in the Kansas City area call it, has generated thousands of jobs, millions of tax dollars for the otherwise minor suburb, and is the largest tax generator in Clay County, Missouri, most of which fund North Kansas City and Liberty schools.
The assembly plant currently produces the popular F-150 (Ford F-Series
Ford F-Series
The F-Series is a series of full-size pickup trucks from Ford Motor Company which has been sold continuously for over six decades. The most popular variant of the F-Series is the F-150...
), Ford Escape
Ford Escape
The Ford Escape is a compact SUV sold by the automaker Ford Motor Company introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model year and priced below the Ford Explorer. Although technically it's a crossover vehicle, it is marketed by Ford as part of its traditional SUV lineup rather than its separate crossover lineup...
and Ford Escape Hybrid, Ford Maverick
Ford Escape
The Ford Escape is a compact SUV sold by the automaker Ford Motor Company introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model year and priced below the Ford Explorer. Although technically it's a crossover vehicle, it is marketed by Ford as part of its traditional SUV lineup rather than its separate crossover lineup...
and Lobo (export only) and Mazda Tribute
Mazda Tribute
The Mazda Tribute is a compact SUV made by Japanese automaker Mazda since 2001. It is jointly developed with Ford Motor Company and based on the front-wheel drive Mazda 626 platform, which is in turn the basis for the similar Ford Escape on the CD2 platform...
. In December 2010 Ford announced it was moving the Escape to the Louisville Assembly Plant
Louisville Assembly Plant
The Louisville Assembly Plant is an automobile manufacturing plant owned by Ford Motor Company in Louisville, Kentucky. The plant on opened in 1955 and currently employs a total of 2,000 people. It is located adjacent to the Louisville International Airport on the south side of the city...
which is undergoing $600 million in renovations.
The move stirred fears that it could result in the loss of half the jobs at the 3,700-person plant. A day after the announcement Ford said a yet to be announced line would replace the Escape. Missouri had been anticipating changes at the plant. In 2010 it passed the Missouri Manufacturing Jobs Act providing tax incentives for companies that invest in plants in the state by allowing them to keep employee withholding taxes. While the bill would benefit all industrial businesses it was specifically targeting the plant and was introduced by Jerry Nolte
Jerry Nolte
Jerry Nolte is a commercial artist and former teacher who currently serves as a Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives. He resides in Gladstone, Missouri, with his wife, Alicia. They have three children: Whitney, Michael, and Katrina.He has been an advertising artist working...
, whose district includes the plant. Ford could save $150 million over 10 years if it invests in the plant. The bill had been the subject of a filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
by United States Senate candidate
United States Senate election in Missouri, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in Missouri occurred on November 2, 2010 alongside 36 other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Primary elections were held on August 3,...
Chuck Purgason
Chuck Purgason
Chuck Purgason is a Republican Missouri politician. A member of the Missouri Senate since 2004, he was an unsuccessful candidate for United States Senate in 2010 losing the Republican primary to then-U.S. Congressman Roy Blunt....
who objected to the favoritism extended to Ford and read aloud sections of Allan W. Eckert
Allan W. Eckert
Allan W. Eckert was an American historian, historical novelist, and naturalist.-Biography:Eckert was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in the Chicago, Illinois area, but had been a long-time resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio, near where he attended university...
's The Frontiersman into the record. Ford in 2011 said it would spend $400 million upgrading it.
Previously, the plant assembled the Country Squire Station Wagon
Ford Country Squire
- Third generation :Prior to 1961, all Ford wagons used a two-piece tailgate assembly that required the operator to lift the rear window up and locking it into place via a mechanical support, and then drop the tail gate down to fully access the rear compartment.For the 1961 Ford adopted a tailgate...
, Falcon, Comet
Mercury Comet
The Mercury Comet is an automobile produced by the Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company from 1960–1969 and 1971-1977 — variously as either a compact or an intermediate car.The Comet was based on the compact Ford Falcon and later the Ford Maverick...
, Fairlane, Meteor
Mercury Meteor
The Mercury Meteor was an automobile model produced by the Lincoln Mercury division of the Ford Motor Company from 1961 to 1963. For 1961, the name was applied to low-end full-sized vehicles; for 1962 and 1963, the name was applied to Mercury's mid-sized sedans, in a marketing attempt to appeal to...
, Maverick, Fairmont
Ford Fairmont
The Ford Fairmont is a compact car produced by Ford Motor Company for the North American market. Introduced for the 1978 model year, the Fairmont was produced in several bodystyles until it was replaced by the Ford Tempo for the 1984 model year...
, Zephyr, Tempo
Ford Tempo
The Ford Tempo is a coupe/sedan car model that was produced by Ford Motor Company for model years 1984 to 1994. It was a downsized successor to the boxy Ford Fairmont that introduced "jellybean" styling, which would later be shown on the larger 1986 Ford Taurus. and was replaced in 1994 by the...
, Topaz, Contour
Ford Contour
The Ford Contour, and its rebadged variant, the Mercury Mystique, were compact 4-door sedans marketed from model years 1995-2000 by Ford Motor Company in North America...
, Mystique, as well as light trucks.
The KCAP opened in 1951 for military production. Converted to auto assembly in 1956 and began production as Ford assembly plant in 1957. The KCAP is now responsible for building the popular F-150 alongside the Ford Escape & Escape Hybrid. The 4700000 square feet (436,644.3 m²) on 1270 acres (5.1 km²) facility employs 4,725 people. Plant tours were discontinued on September 12, 2001 due to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
attacks.
The plant is on the site where former Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
president Jack Frye
Jack Frye
William John "Jack" Frye was an aviation pioneer, who with Paul E. Richter and Walter A. Hamilton, built TWA into a world class airline during his tenure as chairman from 1934-1947....
owned a home. Legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
visited often and reportedly spent his honeymoon with Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Morrow Lindbergh was an American author, aviator, and the spouse of fellow aviator Charles Lindbergh.She was an acclaimed author whose books and articles spanned the genres of poetry to non-fiction, touching upon topics as diverse as youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and...
there.