Ford Vehicle

As speakers inside strong Ford Motor Co. /strong #8217;s Claycomo plant touted the 2009 F-150 pickup Thursday, new trucks slowly moved along the assembly line behind them. /p p There was no shutdown of production during the ceremonial launch of the redesigned F-150. /p p #8220;Consumers want this great truck, so we couldn #8217;t stop the line, #8221; Ford executive Joe Hinrichs told a cheering crowd of plant workers, Ford dealers and local politicians.

/p p Even in a depressed automotive industry in which high gasoline prices have crippled the truck and big-SUV market, the F-series remains the best-selling vehicle in the country. Sales of the F-series were off 27 percent through September, but the 392,698 F-series trucks sold still make it the top seller. /p p Still, local Ford workers have been concerned after the automaker cut F-150 production to one shift at Claycomo and eliminated a third F-150 shift at its Dearborn, Mich., plant.

In the past two years, Ford also has stopped making F-150s at two other plants as several truck and SUV factories are being converted to produce smaller vehicles. /p p At Claycomo, Ford added a third shift to build Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner compact SUVs when it dropped the second truck shift. /p p For them, Hinrichs had some reassuring words.

/p p #8220;There #8217;s been a lot of talk about the truck business, #8221; said Hinrichs, group vice president of global manufacturing and labor relations. #8220;The truck business is strong, and the truck business is important for this plant. #8221; /p p Last month on a visit to Kansas City, Hinrichs reiterated that Ford planned to continue building F-150s at two plants, noting the shipping advantages of the Claycomo plant being in the middle of the country for markets to the west and south.