Ford Focus Forum banner

CT getting a car manufacturing plant

547 views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  smoke3006  
#1 ·
source: detriot news

AC Cars, of Shelby Cobra fame, will invest in a new manufacturing facility in Bridgeport, Conn. AC Cars expects to built about 50 cars annually and eventually ramp-up produciton to 800 units a year. The company will create 141 jobs and expects to spend $4.5 million to get the plant running. The plant will also be supported by a $1.5 million loan from the Connecticut Dept. of Economic Development.

AC is best known for its invovlement with Carroll Shelby, who used the lightweight AC Ace bodies and big-block engines from Ford to produce one of the most desired and replicated cars ever made. The new vehicle offered by AC Cars will continue in that sporting tradition, and will sell for $90,000 to $150,000. The decision to manufacture in he U.S. is a move to boost U.S. sales of the new vehicle and was in-part inspired by the success of other niche cars, such as the Mini.
 
#7 ·
Re: CT getting a car manufacturing plant RUMORS Begin

After an unsuccessful bid to buy MG Rover earlier this year, the David James-led consortium called Project Kimber is trying to buy the rights to the SMART Roadster and Roadster Coupe. DaimlerChrysler, parent company of Smart, has already announced that the two cars will be cut from the SMART lineup because the company can’t sell enough to turn a profit. Regardless of whether Project Kimber is successful in its bid, the Roadster and Roadster Coupe will go off the market this summer. But if Project Kimber gets what it wants, it can ramp production back up in 2007 — but not as a SMART Roadster. After undergoing a redesign by former Jaguar designer Keith Helfet, the vehicle would be sold under the AC name. Is that the same AC that’s currently building a manufacturing plant in Connecticut? Hmm…

Source: www.autoblog.com