Ford ends Taurus production, closes Atlanta plant

Production ended at Ford Motor Company’s Atlanta Assembly Plant on Friday, October 27, when the company produced its last Ford Taurus.

Ford produced 7.5 million Taurus units since the legendary sedan was introduced in 1985. From 1992 to 1996, Taurus was the best-selling car in the United States. Its peak year was 1992 with 409,751 units sold. Ford produced Taurus at two assembly plants – Atlanta and Chicago – until 2004 when Chicago Assembly began production of the Ford Five Hundred, Freestyle and Mercury Montego.

Atlanta Assembly opened in 1947 and built a variety of historical models including the light trucks, Ford Fairlane, Fairmont, Falcon, Galaxie, Grananda, LTD, Rachero, Torino, Thunderbird, Marquis, Sable and Taurus.

For the past five years, Atlanta Assembly has ranked among the top 10 most productive assembly plants in North America, as reported by Harbour Consulting. In the 2005 report, Atlanta ranked No. 1 in productivity.

Atlanta Assembly employed 1,950 workers, including 1,800 hourly and 150 salaried. The hourly employees, like all UAW-represented Ford employees in the U.S., can select among eight separation, educational and retirement packages.