Jun. 3--The state's two auto assembly plants hustled to high-performance ratings last year, according to an annual report by an industry research firm.
The Ford plant in Hapeville placed third overall, with an average 16.58 hours' vehicle production time.

Its efficiency improved by nearly two minutes per car from 2003.

General Motors' factory in Doraville ranked second among five North American producers of minivans, requiring an average 26.33 hours to assemble each vehicle, indicated Harbour Consulting's guide to automotive manufacturing, released Thursday.

The results were a mixed blessing for both.

The Doraville plant fell out of the top berth from the previous year, dropping below DCX St. Louis South, which churned out minivans at a 22.94-hour pace.

Michelle Hill, senior manager of the report, attributed Doraville's ranking decline to the challenge of assembling several new models -- Buick Terraza, Uplander, Saturn Relay and Montana SV6.

While the Hapeville factory motored from fifth place in the previous year, it landed well behind a GM plant in Oshawa, Ontario, near Toronto, (15.85 hours) and the Nissan Altima site in Smyrna, Tenn. (16.10 hours).

Hill suggested the Hapeville locale benefited from an assembly halt of the Mercury Sable and Taurus in Chicago last year, enabling it to increase production to 235,000 vehicles last year from 175,000 in 2003.

The Sable recently reached the end of the assembly line in Hapeville, and the Taurus is scheduled to cease production, too.

A Ford representative preferred to ascribe the loftier ranking to greater discipline throughout the maker's manufacturing and design process.

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Publication date: 2005-06-03