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Klobuchar Praises Ford Decision to Extend Production at St. Paul Assembly Plant

Joined effort to save jobs, keep St. Paul facility open

July 24, 2008

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who has joined officials and employees in efforts to save the Twin Cities Assembly Plant and its hundreds of good jobs, today praised a decision by Ford Motor Company to extend production of light trucks at the St. Paul plant by two years, to 2011.

“The St. Paul plant has some of the most skilled and productive employees of any Ford facility in the country,’’ Klobuchar said. “And at a time of skyrocketing fuel prices, the Ford Ranger manufactured in St. Paul is just the kind of vehicle that our consumers want and our country needs.’’

In a major strategic shift announced today, Ford said it will expand North American production of small cars, increase production of hybrid vehicles and convert three large-truck and SUV factories to small-car production. As a member of both the Senate Environment Committee and the Commerce Committee, Klobuchar has supported investment in new hybrid vehicle technologies and helped forge a compromise in last year’s Energy Bill to raise federal fuel-economy standards by 40 percent, the first increase in decades.

The St. Paul plant, which was scheduled to close in 2009, will get an additional two years of production. The plant manufactures the popular four-cylinder Ford Ranger compact pickup truck and employs about 1,000 skilled production workers.  According to Ford, the Ranger is the most fuel-efficient light truck in the marketplace.

“This is a good day for the City of St. Paul and the loyal Ford workers who have given so much to our state’s economy,’’ Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar’s office spoke with Ford executives this morning, following numerous discussions between Klobuchar and officials, company executives and members of United Auto Workers Local 879 in St. Paul to on how to extend the plant’s life.  More recently, Klobuchar wrote a letter to Ford executives urging them to keep the plant open and reminding them of the plant’s skilled and experienced work force and its importance to the Twin Cities economy.
 
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