Ford Investing $135 million in Hybrids

Ford announces today it's putting $135 million into design and technology for a new line of hybrids out in 2012.

From the release: " Ford Motor Company – moving to create a center of excellence in Michigan for vehicle electrification – today announced it is investing $135 million to design, engineer and produce key components for the company’s next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles.

"Ford engineers in Dearborn will design the battery packs while engineers in Livonia will design electric-drive transaxles for the next-generation hybrids, based on Ford’s global C- and CD-car platforms, which go into production in North America in 2012.

(snip)

"Ford’s Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., will assemble the battery packs beginning in 2012, moving work to Michigan that is currently performed in Mexico by a supplier. Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., will build the electric drive transaxles beginning in 2012 from a supplier facility in Japan. Ford is adding a combined 170 jobs at the Rawsonville and Van Dyke facilities to build these key components."