Ford To Transform Wixom Assembly Plant

Company, along with Xtreme Power and Clairvoyant Energy, to transform idled Wixom Assembly Plant into a renewable energy manufacturing park

Ford Motor has collaborated with Xtreme Power of Austin, Texas and Clairvoyant Energy of Santa Barbara, California to re-develop the idled Wixom Assembly Plant into a renewable energy manufacturing park.

Clairvoyant Energy and Xtreme Power plan an initial investment of more than $725m to re-develop the 320-acre plant site and its 4.7 million square feet of building space to manufacture solar power and energy storage systems, respectively.

The two companies are expected to utilize approximately half of the square footage to manufacture their products, and would seek additional green-energy manufacturing and support companies to lease the remaining space. The re-development work at the Wixom site is expected to begin early next year with manufacturing at the site slated to begin in late 2011.

Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford, said: The Wixom Assembly Plant served Ford well for half a century and we wanted to ensure it served Michigan well into the future. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of two visionary energy companies and the leadership of state and local officials, we are transforming our Wixom facility into one of the largest renewable energy parks in the US. I can't imagine a better way to use this facility - for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.