DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 8, 2002 - America’s best-selling pickup truck just got a new home. Ford Motor Company today announced that beginning in 2004, the Ford F-150 pickup truck will be built at the new Dearborn Truck Plant now under construction at the legendary Ford Rouge Center in Dearborn, Mich.

"Just as the Ford F-150 clearly established its sales leadership, our new assembly plant firmly establishes Ford’s manufacturing leadership and vision," said Anne Stevens, vice president, North America Vehicle Operations. "As the new flagship of Ford’s lean and flexible assembly plants, it will have the capability of interchanging three vehicle architectures and producing up to nine different models, if needed."

The new assembly plant construction is the centerpiece of one of the nation’s largest industrial redevelopment projects. For more than 85 years, the Ford Rouge Center represented a key element of Henry Ford’s vision of vertical integration - a self-contained manufacturing complex, where most vehicle components were made from raw materials and assembled into a finished product.

Ford F-150 also will continue to be built at Norfolk Assembly and Kansas City Assembly Plants.

Construction of the new assembly plant is scheduled to be completed by late 2003, with assembly operations beginning in 2004.

The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling truck in America for 25 consecutive years. It has been the best-selling vehicle in the country for the past 20 years.