The Scoop...February 20, 2012

     President Jerry Courtney called the Lima Rotary Club meeting to order before a smaller than usual President’s Day crowd.

     Mike Felix, plant manager of the Lima Ford Engine Plant, was the featured speaker of the Lima Rotary Club. He was introduced by Clyde Rauch.

     Felix took over as manager of the plant in April. He shared highlights about Ford’s performance in 2011 and talked about the new engine line.

2012 new engine line
     Ford Motor Company has provided the Lima plant with final approval for the new engine line.

      The engine will be a V-6 with the dual-turbo technology Ford calls EcoBoost. The EcoBoost will be in 90 percent of the company's North American nameplates offered in 2013.

     Ford plans to invest $400 million to put the new line in at the Lima Engine Plant. Felix said that work has already begun and he expects new equipment will be installed in the late summer or early fall. He would not commit to how many jobs would be created, though he did say they would be hired through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services offices and that some current entry-level employees would be moved up into jobs in machining and other higher-level roles.
    The new line is coming to Lima for the same reason the plant is able to exceed its production limits, Felix said. Employees, both salaried and hourly, work together in a way that has become a model for Ford worldwide.
    “We're constantly looking for ways to improve and become more efficient,” Felix said. “We have a team structure that if a model for the company and still, we ask ourselves, how we take this step to the next level.”

     Felix also shared the following information about the Lima Ford Engine Plant as well as the company as a whole:

Lima Engine Plant employment (as of February 2012)

• 950 employment (Hourly 800; Salary 150)
• 89 temporary employees converted to full-time status
• In 2012 hiring salary employees for the first time since 2000
• Added a third shift in 2011

Products

• 498,216 engines produced in 2011, which was 20,000 more than what was established as the plant's straight-hour capacity. In 2012, the goal is increased by 17,000 engines.
• Will build its 39-millionth engine in 2012
• Builds the 3.5/3.7 LV6 engine. It goes in the:

1)      Edge

2)      Flex

3)      Explorer

4)      Taurus

5)      Fusion Sport

6)      Lincoln MKX

7)      Lincoln MKT

8)      Lincoln MKZ

   Community financial impact in 2011

• $12.6 million paid in federal income tax
• $2.8 million paid in state income tax
• $392,000 in local, school and city taxes
• $3.9 million in Social Security and Medicare
• $387,000 in property tax
• Donations: $116,000

FORD MOTOR COMPANY’S 2012 PLAN

• Industry volume in U.S. expected to be between 13.5 and 14.5 million units
• Sustain market share with 2011 numbers
• Improve operating margins

2011 highlights:

·         Its automotive profit was $6.3 billion. Profit for the company as a whole was $8.8 billion

·         Revenue increased by $15.4 billion

·         5.695 million vehicles sold worldwide, up 382,000 from 2010.

·         Automotive debt was $13.1 billion, a reduction of $6 billion

·         Since 2009 Ford has paid down more than $20 billion in debt.

·         2011 was the third year in a row of profitability

·         2011 was the third year in a row of higher market share

·         2011 marked the first time since 1970 that global market share increased

·         was the third year in a rowof profitability