Over the next four months, the lead plant for the next-generation C-MAX will produce between two and three units per day in a first "static" production phase, in which the cars do not move along the assembly line but are assembled off-line. As more workers are trained to assemble Ford's new MPV, the plant’s output will increase to 700 units a day.

The next-generation C-MAX has been single-sourced from Ford's plant in Valencia for all European markets and the USA.

Last year, Ford confirmed that the Grand C-MAX model will also be introduced in North America in late 2011, joining the European-designed Fiesta, the Transit Connect commercial van and the next-generation Focus at the American showrooms.  

Production at the Almussafes factory had dropped steadily from the record-breaking 450,000 units built in 2004 to the 250,000 manufactured in 2009. When production of the Grand C-Max for the USA is launched in 2011, the initial 180,000 units assembled per year will shoot up to 240,000, taking the factory up to a total of 420,000 vehicles built per year, and putting production on a par with 2006 and 2007 levels.

The C-MAX's European unveiling in Frankfurt last year marked the debut of Ford's new C-segment platform, which will form the basis of several new models, including the all-new Focus due late this year.

The C-MAX family brings new levels of style and desirability to the compact multi-activity vehicle (MAV) market, with a bold and dynamic new look that extends Ford’s acclaimed ‘kinetic design’ language. The model features a coupé-like, sweeping roofline while still retaining the established C-MAX hallmarks of comfort, space, and practicality.