Ford to move work to Mo., paper says

A union official said he still hopes for vehicle production at the Ohio plant.
AVON LAKE, Ohio (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. plans to stop building the Escape and Mercury Mariner at its Avon Lake plant and shift the work to a Missouri facility, a newspaper reported.
The timing of the transfer to a Kansas City plant, which builds most Escapes, was unclear, The Plain Dealer reported, citing inidentified industry sources. Top Ford officials have approved the plan, sources told the newspaper Tuesday.
"We're very hopeful that won't happen. At this point, it's just rumor and speculation," Tim Donovan, president of United Auto Workers Local 2000, said. "We have not been informed what is going to happen yet. We're not involved in consolidation talks at this point."
Ford spokesman Rich Voytowich said Tuesday the company had no comment.
The company also makes Econoline van bodies at the Avon Lake plant and sends them to a facility in nearby Lorain for final assembly.
Ford said in October it would close the Lorain plant and consolidate production in Avon Lake within four years. At the end of 2003, Ford had 1,534 employees at the Lorain plant and 1,965 hourly workers in Avon Lake.
The Ohio Assembly Plant previously made the Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest minivans, but they were discontinued because of poor sales. About 700 workers were laid off when production was stopped in 2002.
Ohio officials agreed to an incentive package that helped persuade Ford to replace the minivans with the Escape and Mariner.
What Ford promised
Under an agreement with the Ohio Department of Development, Ford promised to keep about 800 hourly workers building the Escape for seven years and another 1,200 workers building the bodies for the large vans for five years.
The state assistance included about $30 million in various Ohio grants and credits.
The development department has only heard from Ford that several options are under consideration, said agency spokesman Bill Teets. Ford could jeopardize incentives by cutting Escort employment, but any decision would be based on the cutbacks and Ford's remaining investment, Teets said.
Mike Perry, union president at the Kansas City plant, said he hadn't heard of any changes planned for the site, which employs about 5,600.