Ford Motor Co. says it will spend $75 million to retool part of its Michigan Truck factory in Wayne so it can make small car bodies.
The automaker says the move is part of its plan to convert some truck factories to make smaller vehicles.
Michigan Truck's 1,000 workers who now make Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs will be sent to the nearby Wayne Assembly Plant. Ford plans to add a third shift there to make more Focus small cars.
The move will begin in November, when Ford starts moving the equipment to build the big SUVs to the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.
That will clear space for Michigan Truck's body shop to be retooled to make Focus bodies. Michigan Truck will be converted entirely to a car plant in 2010.