Last Ford Taurus rolls off assembly line as Atlanta plant closes

HAPEVILLE, Ga. — The last Ford Taurus has been assembled, shipped out and received by its new owner — the founder of Chik-fil-A. The 1,950 workers have left the building, some headed to make other cars in other places.

Ford's Atlanta assembly plant was 59 years old and is survived by generations of sedans and trucks that rolled out its doors.

The plant closed as part of a reorganization plan announced 10 months ago by Ford to boost its sagging bottom line.

Among the makes that came off its line since it opened in 1947 were the F100, Galaxy, Falcon, Fairlane 500, Ranchero, Torino, Mercury Cougar, Fairmont, LTD, Grenada, Mercury Marquis and Sable. Friday's end also concluded 21 years of making the popular Taurus, with sales of more than 7 million vehicles.

The plant, with a huge blue Ford logo painted on the side, may be best remembered for the Taurus, which was the nation's best-selling car from 1992 to 1996. The car's best year came in 1992, when it sold 409,751 cars.

The last Taurus from the plant went to Chick-fil-A restaurant chain founder Truett Cathy, who has credited the success of his first restaurant in Hapeville to business from the plant's workers.

"I received it with mixed emotion," said Cathy, as he spoke at the restaurant across the street from the plant.

He plans to put the sedan in the auto museum of his chain's corporate headquarters in Atlanta, where he has other Ford vehicles, including a Model T.

S.L. Stephens, president of UAW Local 882, said the announcement that the plant would be closed earlier this year came as a shock, especially given the plant's reputation for being ranked as one of the top 10 most productive assembly lines in North America.

"We lost a way of life," Stephens said.

Stephens said about 300 to 400 workers have taken jobs at a Ford plant in Louisville, Ky.

Plant workers could choose among eight separation, educational and retirement packages. It is unclear how many will work at other plants, Ford spokeswoman Anne MarieGattari said.

And the news remains bleak for the company as a whole, too.

On Monday, Ford announced a third quarter loss of $5.8 billion — its largest quarterly loss in more than 14 years.

It said the third quarter loss came from the costs of its massive restructuring plan aimed at reshaping the company and cutting expenses so it can compete better against lower-cost rivals from overseas.

Company officials predicted things would be even worse in the fourth quarter.