A big part of Thai-Tang's job is to make the Mustang's driving experience as inviting as the window sticker: Prices range from below $20,000 for a V6-powered version up to the mid-$50,000 range for a limited-edition, power-packed 'Stang.
"Because the Mustang is a rear-wheel-drive car and the Mazda6 sedan, hatchback and wagon are front-wheel drive, the cars' bodies are welded together on separate lines. Then the models share the rest of the assembly line, such as the paint shop and final trim line."
Those 400 are pre-production pilot cars to use as test mules, crash test cars, assembly quality control and process evaluation, etc.etc.etc.... They will all be destroyed when Ford's finished using them internally. Regular production will begin in September. This is the process for ANY kind of manufacturing. You build a bunch of testers, for testing, and for practice, before you flip the "go" switch and start building product for public consumption. There's so many wrinkles to iron out in the assembly process you cannot imagine, and the only way to discover them is to build practice cars.
Those 400 are pre-production pilot cars to use as test mules, crash test cars, assembly quality control and process evaluation, etc.etc.etc.... They will all be destroyed when Ford's finished using them internally. Regular production will begin in September. This is the process for ANY kind of manufacturing. You build a bunch of testers, for testing, and for practice, before you flip the "go" switch and start building product for public consumption. There's so many wrinkles to iron out in the assembly process you cannot imagine, and the only way to discover them is to build practice cars.
"They spent a day at Flat Rock, making Mazdas and Mercury Cougars, and another day at Dearborn Assembly Plant in the Rogue complex, making the current Mustang.
They were assigned the toughest jobs on the line, the ones that tend to produce the most fatigue and injuries, which can increase the error rate.
Hau Thai-Tang, the Mustang's chief engineer, spent a day installing dashboard insulation. It required stooping over, holding up an 8-pound piece of foam, and securing it with plastic push pins -- all day, 400 cars, thousands of push pins."
I didn't go back to read the very article I posted....what a dumbass I am!!! No matter, THEY STILL build a booty-load of pilot cars pre-production to crash, smash, run hot, run cold, shake, rattle, and abuse, and practice assembly, all to make sure that the when the flag drops, the car is 100% sorted out and tested.