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For Taurus and its plant, it'sthe end of the line

Production ends at the Georgia factory that produced the car and the jobs to assemble it.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published October 28, 2006

HAPEVILLE, Ga. - The last Taurus sedan rolled off the assembly line Friday, and 1,950 jobs went with it.

The Atlanta Assembly Plant, which had been producing cars since Harry S. Truman was president and before televisions became commonplace and the birth of rock 'n' roll, was closed, leaving workers wondering where their next paychecks would come from.

The nation's second-biggest automaker announced 10 months ago that it would close the plant as part of a reorganization plan to boost Ford Motor Co.'s profits. Friday's milestone concluded 21 years of making the popular sedan, with sales of more than 7-million vehicles.

In the past five years, the plant was ranked as one of the top 10 most productive assembly lines in North America.

"The Atlanta plant and the employees there had a great run - the vehicles they built there were very important to the company," said Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari. "Unfortunately, we're in a transition period where we are working to align our capacity with the customer demand and as a result we have to idle several assembly plants."

The workers who lost their jobs could choose among eight separation, educational and retirement packages. It is unclear how many will work at other Ford plants, Gattari said

On Monday, Ford announced a third-quarter loss of $5.8-billion - its largest quarterly loss in more than 14 years.

It said the third-quarter loss came from the costs of its massive restructuring plan aimed at reshaping the company and cutting expenses so it can compete better against lower-cost rivals from overseas.

Company officials predicted things would be even worse in the fourth quarter.

The last Taurus went to Chick-fil-A restaurant chain founder Truett Cathy, who has credited the success of his first restaurant in Hapeville to business from the plant's workers.

"I received it with mixed emotion," said Cathy, as he spoke at the restaurant across the street from the plant.

He plans to put the sedan in the auto museum of his chain's corporate headquarters in Atlanta, where he has other Ford vehicles, including a Model T.

At the Chick-fil-A restaurant near the plant, general manager Kevin Moss estimated the restaurant would lose up to 15 percent of its business with the plant gone. He said he was hopeful that new industry moving into the area would help make up for the loss.

"We've known about this for a while and been planning for it," Moss said.

But the loyal customers from Ford will be missed, he said. One worker even came to the restaurant earlier in the day and handed out thank-you cards to workers there.

[Last modified October 27, 2006, 23:37:44]