![Atlanta Assembly](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Atlanta_Assembly.jpg)
Atlanta Assembly was an
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
factory owned by
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
in
Hapeville, Georgia
Hapeville is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, United States, that is 2.5 square miles wide. Hapeville is located inside I-285 between the city of Atlanta to its North and the Atlanta International Airport to its south. The population was 6,553 ...
. The Atlanta Assembly plant was opened on December 1, 1947.
Harbour Consulting rated it as the most efficient auto plant in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
in 2006. As part of ''
The Way Forward
Ford Motor Company's restructuring plan, made public in 2006, was known as The Way Forward. Ford was attempting to reduce fixed capital costs while maintaining a special focus on cars and car-based crossover vehicles. Over time, it hoped to make ...
'' plan, the plant was closed on October 27, 2006.
Prior to the operation of this assembly plant, Ford operated another assembly
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
and offices on
Ponce de Leon Avenue
Ponce de Leon Avenue ( ), often simply called Ponce, provides a link between Atlanta, Decatur, Clarkston, and Stone Mountain, Georgia. It was named for Ponce de Leon Springs, in turn from explorer Juan Ponce de León, but is not pronounced ...
near the
old Sears headquarters building, in the
Poncey-Highland neighborhood just northeast of
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county, s ...
.
Car lines produced
The last car lines built at the plant were:
* 1986–2007
Ford Taurus
The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiat ...
* 1986–2005
Mercury Sable
The Mercury Sable is a range of automobiles manufactured and marketed by the Mercury brand of Ford Motor Company. Introduced on December 26, 1985 as the replacement for the Mercury Marquis, the Sable marked the transition of the mid-size Mercury ...
Other car lines built at the plant included:
Ford Fairlane,
Ford Fairmont
The Ford Fairmont is a model line of compact cars that was manufactured by Ford from the 1978 to 1983 model years. The successor of the Ford Maverick, the Fairmont marked the third generation of compact sedans sold by Ford in North America and ...
,
Ford Falcon
Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide.
* Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970.
* Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991.
* Fo ...
,
Ford Galaxie
The Ford Galaxie is a full-sized car that was built in the United States by Ford for model years 1959 through to 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford's full-size range from 1958 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the e ...
,
Ford Granada,
Ford LTD,
Ford Ranchero
The Ford Ranchero is a coupe utility that was produced by Ford between 1957 and 1979. Unlike a standard pickup truck, the Ranchero was adapted from a two-door station wagon platform that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body. A tota ...
,
Ford Thunderbird
The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...
,
Ford Torino
The Ford Torino is an automobile that was produced by Ford for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. It was a competitor in the intermediate market segment. The car was named after the city of Turin (''Torino'', in Italian), consider ...
,
Mercury Cougar
Mercury Cougar is a nameplate applied to a diverse series of automobiles sold by the Mercury division of Ford from 1967 to 1997 and from 1999 to 2002. While the nameplate is most commonly associated with two-door coupes, at various times during ...
,
Mercury Marquis
The Mercury Marquis is a model line of automobiles that was marketed by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company from the 1967 to 1986 model years. Deriving its name from a French nobility title, the Marquis was introduced as a rebadged coun ...
,
Mercury Montego
The Mercury Montego is a nameplate that was applied to three separate generations of vehicles marketed by the Mercury division of Ford Motor Company. Taking its name from Montego Bay, Jamaica, the nameplate made its first appearance for 1967 in ...
and
Mercury Zephyr
The Ford Fairmont is a model line of compact cars that was manufactured by Ford from the 1978 to 1983 model years. The successor of the Ford Maverick, the Fairmont marked the third generation of compact sedans sold by Ford in North America and ...
.
Closing in 2006
![Ford atl3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Ford_atl3.jpg)
The plant closed in 2006. The plant was purchased for over $40 million by Jacoby Development, Inc., in June 2008.
Demolition of the plant began in August 2008 and took approximately one year.
New location use
The site is expected to be used for the
Aerotropolis Atlanta
Aerotropolis Atlanta is a planned mixed-use development in Hapeville, Georgia on the site of the former Ford Atlanta Assembly Plant. The site is directly adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The complex is to house offic ...
"multi use" community of retail, office, and hotel developments as well as additional parking for the adjacent Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
On May 11, 2011 Porsche Cars North America announced plans to move their headquarters from the northern Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs to Aerotropolis Atlanta. The complex includes a new office building and test track
[http://www.ajc.com/business/porsche-north-america-hq-941520.html ]
See also
*
List of Ford factories
The following is a list of current, former, and confirmed future facilities of Ford Motor Company for manufacturing automobiles and other components. Per regulations, the factory is encoded into each vehicle's VIN as character 11 for North Amer ...
References
External links
FORD’S ATLANTA ASSEMBLY PLANT PROPERTY SOLD TO JACOBY; AEROTROPOLIS PLANNED June 12, 2008 - Ford Media
{{coord, 33, 39, 2.78, N, 84, 24, 6.60, W, region:US_type:landmark, display=title
Ford factories
Former motor vehicle assembly plants
Buildings and structures in Fulton County, Georgia
Hapeville, Georgia
Motor vehicle assembly plants in Georgia (U.S. state)
1947 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)