In Michigan, dude. Where else?

There's not a lot of cheery news coming out of the Motor City these days, so we're happy to share this one with you. After years of delivering power to two of Ford Motor Company’s iconic products, the Ford F-150 and Mustang, Romeo Engine Plant has reached a historic milestone---the production of its 10 millionth engine.

The engine, a 4.6L three-valve V-8, will be shipped to AutoAlliance International in Flat Rock, Michigan, to be installed in a new 2010 Mustang GT. The V-8 engines manufactured at the plant build on two of Ford’s strengths---capability for the Ford F-150, the best-selling truck in America, and performance for Mustang, America’s favorite muscle car.

The Romeo plant, converted from a tractor manufacturing facility, produced its first engine in 1990---a 4.6-liter, two-valve V-8. Today the plant, with a thousand employees, manufactures V-8 engines along with many of their major components including cast iron blocks, crankshafts, cylinder heads, connecting rods, camshafts and aluminum blocks.

“Romeo Engine’s products are powering two of Ford’s iconic vehicles and we focus on quality every minute of every day,” said Plant Manager Shaun Whitehead. “We deal with a great deal of complexity on our lines, and we’ve had very strong quality performance over a very long period of time."

“This is a huge accomplishment for our plant,” said Randy Newsom, UAW Local 400 Chairman at Romeo Engine. “We started this plant with a team concept that was really new for Ford when they converted from the tractor plant. Over the years, we’ve stayed consistent in our team approach, with both hourly and salaried employees working together. We strive to be the best engine builders in the world, and we’d like to build another 10 million.” And hey, we'll raise you guys another 20 mil after that. Congrats to Ford for giving us something to cheer about this week.