Ford Motor to invest $450 mln in electric car plant

Ford Motor Co on Monday said it would invest $450 million to build its next-generation hybrid and a rechargeable plug-in hybrid at a Michigan assembly plant starting in 2012 after winning state tax incentives.

Ford said the move and related steps would create 1,000 new jobs in Michigan and had been made possible by tax credits that its home state extended a year earlier to stem the decline in auto-related payrolls.

The investments are part of a broad Ford electric vehicle strategy announced last year that includes introducing a battery electric version of its Transit Connect small work van this year in North America and an electric Focus next year.

Ford said on Monday the Transit Connect would have a targeted range of 80 miles per full charge and the Focus of up to 100 miles on a full charge.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker behind General Motors Co, Ford plans to build the battery-powered version of its Focus small car at an assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan.

Ford had invested $550 million at the plant -- known as Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant -- to convert it from production of sport utility vehicles to produce the Focus compact car the automaker unveiled at the Detroit auto show on Monday.