Report: Ford's Flat Rock Assembly Tapped for Brace of Midsize EV Crossovers

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

While Ford has a “Mustang-inspired” electric crossover on the way for 2020 and a ICE-free F-150 coming down the pipe, the automaker’s future green product offensive remained murky — until now, apparently. The company’s Flat Rock, Michigan assembly plant will give birth to two electric vehicles in three years’ time, a new report claims.

Both vehicles are — quelle surprise — crossovers, bearing both the Ford and Lincoln logos. To make it happen, however, a famous nameplate will almost certainly have to die.

According to three sources with knowledge of Ford’s product plans who spoke to Automotive News, the two vehicles will share a similar footprint. Appearing for the 2023 model year, the two vehicles will occupy the same space as the midsize, two-row Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus, with production beginning in Flat Rock in late 2022 or early 2023.

A common, dedicated electric vehicle platform will appear beneath both vehicles. Back in March, Ford said the plant, which currently builds the Ford Mustang and Lincoln Continental, will host vehicles built on the company’s next-generation EV architecture. That announcement came with a $900 million funding pledge.

While the automaker has yet to confirm the two products, one source claims Ford talked up production of 65,000 units per year in communications with suppliers. Before these green machines can roll out of Flat Rock, however, a slow-selling model will almost certainly have to vacate the premises. Another source claims the Continental will cease production in late 2021 — hardly a shock, as obituaries for the low-volume sedan have been pending since Ford announced the eventual cancellation of its Fusion platform mate.

Chinese production of the Continental will continue, the source added, leaving open the possibility of an import presence in the U.S.

Better hope for improved trade relations, Continental fans.

With these two vehicles now taking shape in the product pipeline, Ford’s list of future EVs grows to five: the Mexican-built, Mustang-inspired crossover (likely named the Mach E), the electric F-150, these two midsize crossovers, and an EV co-developed with EV startup Rivian. Ford’s growing alliance with Volkswagen will breed a crop of electrics based on VW’s MEB platform, but those future vehicles are earmarked for European customers.

[Image: Ford]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Art Vandelay Art Vandelay on Aug 19, 2019

    "Better hope for improved trade relations, Continental fans." Naa, I'd rather it just die than be imported from China. Some cars it might be O.K. to import, but the Continental?!...no man, just no.

  • Akear Akear on Aug 20, 2019

    If Trump is reelected it will be almost impossible for any of the big three to import vehicles from china. It is just not going to happen.

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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