Flat Rock Assembly Plant, formerly known as AutoAlliance International, is a Ford Motor Company assembly plant located at 1 International Drive in Flat Rock, Michigan. The plant currently consists of 2,900,000 square feet (270,000 m2) of production space and employs 1,685 hourly workers represented by the United Auto Workers Local 3000, as well as 140 salaried workers. The plant currently produces the Ford Mustang coupe.
The factory was opened by Ford Motor Company in 1972 as Michigan Casting Center (MCC), at the time one of the most technologically advanced casting facilities in the world. Despite the sizable capital investment, frequent labor relations problems and declining demand for the V8 engine blocks produced there led to the facility's closure in 1981, after less than a decade of operation.
Mazda Motor Corporation bought the closed plant in 1987, converted it to automobile assembly, and reopened it as Mazda Motor Manufacturing USA for production of the Mazda MX-6 and Ford Probe coupes.
Ford repurchased a 50% share in the plant on April 15, 1992, and it officially became a joint-venture and was renamed AutoAlliance International on July 1, 1992 as Ford took over operational management. The plant began production of all models of the Mazda 626 sold in America starting in 1993. The Ford Contour-derived Mercury Cougar was produced at the plant from 1999 to 2002. Production of North American Mazda 6 models began in the 2002 model year, along with the current version of the Ford Mustang in 2005. The factory will start producing the Ford Fusion for the 2014 model year.
The last Mazda 6 rolled off the line on Friday, August 24, 2012, with Mazda discontinuing production on American soil, effectively ending the 20 year joint-venture between Mazda and Ford. Mazda will shift production of the Mazda 6 back to Japan. The automaker is opening a new factory in Salamanca, Mexico, to build the Mazda 2 and Mazda 3 subcompact and compact cars.
On September 10, 2012, Ford Motor Company retook full management control of the plant, renaming the plant the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant, and confirming $555 million in investments designed to retool the plant for the production of the 2013 Ford Fusion midsize sedan. Fusion production is expected to begin in the Summer of 2013, at which point a second shift of approximately 1,200 more workers will be added.
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