CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago's only car plant marks its 100th anniversary this year by churning out a refreshed edition of one of the best-selling SUV's of all time.
Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant located at 12600 S. Torrence Avenue in the Hegewisch neighborhood has been open since 1924, when it built its first Model T.
Today, its 4,800 workers have already started work on the 2025 Ford Explorer, which will be on display at next week's Chicago Auto Show.
Explorer product marketing manager Matt Duffield told WBBM the company's engineers worked with team members in Chicago to make sure the new Explorer is easier to build at high quality.
"We are launching with four trim series," Duffield said.
"That's fewer than we used to have. It simplifies the manufacturing process and essentially enables our Chicago Assembly team to build with high quality, with high reliability, in a way that they know what they're building and they have the tools in front of them to turn out the best quality product that they possibly can."
Since the first Explorer came out in 1990, it's become the best-selling American SUV of all time.
And up until two years ago, buyers concerned about efficiency could order their Explorer with a hybrid gas-electric powertrain.
However, Duffield said Ford's directing its hybrid powertrains to the law-enforcement version of the Explorer, the Police Interceptor Utility, which is also built in Chicago.
"Those are the customers who need them the most," he said. "Those are the customers who are idling the most. In fact, those are the customers who have the greatest opportunity to reduce that footprint and so that's where we've directed those hybrid models to."
The 2025 Explorer that will be available for purchase this fall has a choice of two gas engines -- including a twin-turbocharged V-6 that makes about 400 horsepower.
The 2025 Explorer will also feature a revised instrument panel with two digital displays, wireless phone charging pads and prices starting around $41,000.
It's set to be on display at the Chicago Auto Show, which opens to the public February 10 at McCormick Place.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram I TikTok