Ford Explorer production goes international as iconic SUV rolls-off the line in Russia

As demand for utility vehicles increases around the world, the Ford Explorer is being produced from the ground up outside of the United States for the first time in the iconic SUV's history.

The first full-production Explorer rolled-off the assembly line at Ford Sollers Elabuga
Assembly Plant in the Republic of Tatarstan for the Russian market. Previously, only knock-down versions of Explorer had been built anywhere outside of the United States, including Elabuga, since 2012. Knock-down production means partially assembled vehicles are imported from the home plant - in this case, Ford's Explorer plant in Chicago - along with the parts needed to complete them, and then fully assembled at the local facility.

"Russia is on its way to being the largest market in Europe and presents an enormous opportunity for growth," said Ted Cannis, President and CEO of Ford Sollers. "We anticipate SUV sales to continue to grow as Russian customers prefer the image and performance these utility vehicles provide in severe weather and challenging road conditions."

The Russia-made Explorers will be manufactured at the same high level of efficiency and to the same quality standards as those built at the Chicago Assembly plant.

"With our partner Sollers, we were able to take the best practices from Chicago Assembly Plant as well as our other SUV plants around the world, and combine them with our latest advances in the Ford Production System to ensure we achieved world-class quality and significantly reduced lead times of one to two years," said John Fleming, Executive Vice-President, Global Manufacturing and Labor Affairs.

Posted in: Assembly/Manufacturing Plant,Elabuga Assembly Plant,Europe,Explorer,Ford,Ford Sollers,International,John Fleming,Russia,SUV,Tatarstan,Ted Cannis