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Ford Taps Kansas City to Assemble All-Electric Ford E-Transit Ford Motor Company announced Nov. 10 its Kansas City Assembly Plant will build the all-new E-Transit van, part of a more than $3.2 billion investment in Ford’s North American manufacturing facilities to produce a series of new electric vehicles for commercial and retail customers. The new E-Transit will join the all-electric F-150 announced in September and the all-electric Mustang Mach-E, which begins arriving in dealers’ showrooms next month. The new entries support Ford’s plan to electrify its iconic and most popular vehicles, including its com-
mercial vehicles. The all-electric F-150, which will be assembled at the new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, MI, arrives in mid-2022. The E-Transit arrives in late 2021. Ford is building out its manufacturing footprint across North America, working with local and national governments, to lead the transition to electric vehicles and meet consumer demand in the coming years. Electric vehicles are a key part of Ford’s commitment meet the requirements of the Paris Accord and achieve carbon neutrality globally by 2050. Source: Ford
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM Vol. 10 / Issue 3 / December 2020
2020 Collision Repair Industry: A Year in Review by Chasidy Rae Sisk
It’s undeniable that 2020 has been a year for the history books—the amount of change over the past 12 months is unprecedented and has been disruptive in every imaginable way. As 2020 comes to its conclusion, the world reflects on the year’s events, and a handful of collision repair industry leaders share their thoughts on the most impactful memories for their associations in 2020. The strongest force this year has been the spread of COVID-19, and attempts to curb it. This has translated into many virtual events, and Zoom has become much more than
onomatopoeia, with nearly every association adopting the new normal. “The Automotive Women’s Alliance Foundation (AWAF) was able to quickly pivot to virtual events after the start of the pandemic, which enabled us to continue to serve our members,” said Susan Rokosz, the association’s president. “From happy hours to professional development events, going virtual enabled us to remain connected to our members. ‘AWAF also committed to increasing the diversity of both the membership and the board, and we are working to increase diversity in the talent pipeline for the automotive See 2020 Collision, Page 4
Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine 94.5% Effective in Phase 3 Study, Doesn’t Require Extreme Cold
Internal Memo From Bill Ford Offers Reassurance, ‘No Matter Who is Running the Country’
by Bethany Blankley, The Center Square
by Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press
Biotech company Moderna announced Nov. 16 that its new COVID-19 vaccine has proven to be 94.5% effective. The company said it intends to submit for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks and expects the EUA to be based on the final analysis of 151 cases and a median follow-up of more than two months. Known as the COVE study, Moderna enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the U.S. to test the
Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., emailed the Ford team Nov. 6 “a message on the U.S. Election” as protesters gathered in Detroit and tensions nationally ran high over the presidential election. Ford, 63, is known to send periodic messages when he feels such communication is appropriate. The outcome of the 2020 election remained uncertain though polls closed Nov. 3. He urged calm and reassured employees globally that, separate and apart from the political outcome, the company his great-grandfather founded has a clear vision and focus on the future. He emphasized that the company has weathered political change all over the world. “As I have said many times, we always look to establish and follow our own North Star of values and objectives that allow us to thrive— and to be stable—regardless of the political environment,” Ford wrote. “This has been a difficult and un-
Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP
vaccine. The study was conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National See Vaccine 94.5%, Page 34
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certain year,” he wrote. “But no matter what results this election yields, the importance of our values—our work, our people, our families, doing the right thing and building a better tomorrow—will transcend, as they always have.”
Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford poses for a photo in Michigan Central Station in Detroit. Credit: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
The letter, which appears to have a 5:31 p.m. time stamp, was obtained by the Free Press shortly after it was sent. It reads in full: Dear Ford Team: See Bill Ford Page 20
11/17/2020 4:22:31 PM