Ford Celebrates 12 Millionth Vehicle Built in Germany

American manufacturer Ford announced today its Saarlouis Plant in south-west Germany has built its 12 millionth vehicle (in just 40 years), namely a white Ford Focus five-door model which will be delivered to a Saarlouis employee.

Opened by Henry Ford II on June 11, 1970, the Saarlouis Plant has built some of the most iconic vehicles in Ford of Europe's history. These have included the legendary Ford Capri (produced at the plant from 1971 and 1975); the Ford Fiesta (1976 to 1980); and the Ford Orion (1983 to 1993); the Ford C-MAX (since 2003); and the Ford Kuga (from 2008).

Saarlouis is perhaps best-known as the home of the Ford Escort (1970 to 1998) and, since 1998, the Ford Focus. The plant has also built the high-performance models of the Ford Focus, such as the Focus ST, the Focus RS and Focus RS 500. The next-generation Ford Focus, which starts production at the end of 2010, will be built in Saarlouis for all western European markets.

Over the past decade, Ford has spent EUR4.35 billion on the production facilities at Saarlouis, and this year will again invest several hundreds million Euros. Daily production is at present 1,920 units.

The new generation of the Focus, which is scheduled to enter the market early next year (Ford will offer the same version of the car for both Europe and the U.S. for the first time), will, of course, also get an ST version. Ford is currently preparing its model lineup for the upcoming auto show in Paris and, so far, it has revealed the 2011 Focus ST will be a part of it.