After a 13-month, $550 million conversion from making large SUVs, the suburban Detroit plant has started producing a conventional gasoline-powered new-generation Ford Focus that will go on sale in early 2011.

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Three electric versions of the Focus will follow: a battery electric model in late 2011 and hybrid and plug-in hybrids in late 2012.

“We’ve modernized just about every square foot of this facility to establish a new standard for a high-tech, green, flexible and efficient auto factory,” Jim Tetreault, Ford vice president of North America manufacturing, said in a statement. He called the retooled plant “a symbol for the transformation of Ford.”

Ford also announced it is teaming up with utility Detroit Edison and Xtreme Power to establish a 500-kilowatt solar-powered generation system and 10 electric vehicle-charging stations outside the plant.
AN