Ford announces $5 billion US investment as part of its ‘next Model T moment'
Ford said Monday it will invest $5 billion into a new assembly line and battery production to build EVs, including for a new, unnamed model that Ford says will be the most affordable electric pickup truck on the market. Ford said this announcement will add or 'secure' 4,000 US jobs.
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'We took inspiration from the Model T – the universal car that changed the world,' Doug Field, Ford's chief EV digital and design officer, said Monday. 'We think today will be a turning point for Ford Motor Company and the auto industry.'
Ford says about $2 billion of the investment will secure 2,200 hourly jobs at its Louisville assembly plant to build the company's next generation of electric vehicles. However, Ford said the conversion at the plant from gas powered SUVs to electric vehicle will require about 600 fewer jobs than it currently needs, at least partly because the new assembly line will be more efficient. Ford may also produce fewer cars.
When asked about the job loss on CNBC Monday, Ford CEO Jim Farley suggested that some workers could be moved to the Kentucky Truck plant, Ford's largest factory that is also in Louisville. He also said Ford would be adding additional EV models to the Louisville Assembly plant.
'So the 2,200 (jobs) is just the beginning,' he said. 'By the way, we're adding 1,700 new jobs up in Michigan that don't exist today. The 600 people here will have plenty to do.'
The other jobs and investment will be directed to that Michigan battery plant, whose investment has actually been in the works since 2023.
Ford is the latest company to announce a large investment in US operations as it faces steep tariffs on imports and demands by the Trump administration to shift manufacturing back to the United States. Ford already builds more cars in America than any automaker. But the company said Monday it does not plan to shift production of one of its electric models, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, from a plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico.
Ford's announcement also introduced a new battery design, which will be smaller and lighter than its previous versions. The new battery will allow the company to price a new EV pickup at $30,000, making it one of the most affordable available. By comparison, the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup has a starting price of about $55,000. The new line will be up and running in 2027, the company said Monday.
But the Trump administration has cut federal government support for electric vehicles by doing away with tax credits to help buyers, as well as rolling back emissions regulations put in place by the Biden administration.
And Ford is currently losing money on its EVs. While its EV revenue nearly tripled in the first half of this year compared to a year ago, it still lost $2.2 billion in the EV segment during the same time period.
Ford said the most significant change will be a different design for its assembly line, which has basically been in a straight line since its founder Henry Ford started the first auto assembly line in 1913.
The automaker said its new assembly line will be a tree layout rather than a straight line, with several lines feeding vehicle parts into one another. Ford said the new design will lower costs while making production faster and less difficult for workers on the line.
— CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich contributed to this report.
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