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Merc Crossover Coming Today?
MERC CROSSOVER COMING TODAY?
Ford Motor Co. is expected to announce Wednesday that it will build a
Mercury brand vehicle, said to be a sport-utility/crossover at its plant
in Avon Lake, Ohio, that has been turning out Mercury Villager and Nissan
Quest minivans under a joint agreement between the two companies. Both
minivans are being discontinued because of falling sales next month. The
new vehicle, said a Ford official, will be a 2004 model. The Avon Lake
plant also builds the Econoline full-size van. Mayor Rob Berner said the
introduction of a new vehicle would save about 900 jobs that would have
been eliminated. Gov. Bob Taft will make the announcement along with
company officials on Wednesday at a Ford dealership in nearby Elyria,
Ohio.
Berner said the announcement is the culmination of a year of negotiating
with Ford.
The state offered Ford an $83 million package of cash and tax breaks to
build a vehicle at the Avon Lake plant. The offer is contingent on Ford
investing $140 million in the plant and maintaining 2,000 jobs for the
next 20 years. The Avon Lake plant employs 2,200 people.
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