Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will invest $100 million in its Kansas City Assembly Plant and add 150 jobs there to build the new E-Transit van, which the company will reveal later this week.
The automaker is also investing $850 million total in its River Rouge Complex in Dearborn and Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights that will result in adding or retaining another 725 jobs.
This is part of a more than $3.2 billion investment in Ford’s North American manufacturing facilities to produce a series of new electric vehicles for commercial and retail customers.
“We’re taking our most iconic vehicles and using fully electric technology to deliver even more performance, productivity and capability for customers,” said Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford’s Americas and International Markets Group. “We are building out the North American manufacturing footprint to support this growth. This is just the first chapter with more new electric vehicles and more investment to come.”
Investing in electric
The UAW said Ford’s investment shows its commitment to producing cars in the United States and retaining jobs.
“Today’s announcement realigns commitments made during contract negotiations in 2019,” said Brian Rothenberg, spokesman for the UAW. “It is a credit to our members’ hard work and quality craftsmanship that no plants lose any production capacity or jobs during the realignment. We are encouraged that planned new jobs created and overall job commitments continue on track at the levels that were negotiated in 2019’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Ford’s investment in the Rouge Factory and Van Dyke plant reaffirms Michigan’s continued global leadership in automotive manufacturing and future mobility and electrification.
“Ford’s latest investment will create hundreds of new, good-paying jobs for Michigan workers and help us solidify our status as the automotive capital of the world,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Since I was sworn in as governor, we have brought in historic investments to our auto plants, creating more than 12,000 Michigan jobs. I am proud to see that work continue today.”
Electric vehicles are critical if the company is to meet the requirements of the Paris Accord and achieve carbon neutrality globally by 2050, the company said.
The Kansas City and Dearborn plants, along with Ford’s assembly plants in Oakville, Ontario, and Cuautitlán, Mexico, will support the first phase of Ford’s growing North American electric vehicle plans, the automaker said.
The E-Transit will come to market in 2022. It is part of Ford’s $11.5 billion-plus investment in electric cars through 2022. The Mustang Mach-E starts reaching customers next month. In September, Ford said it will be bringing an all-electric F-150 pickup to market in 2022.
Job retention
Ford is investing approximately $150 million in its Van Dyke Transmission Plant. It will assemble e-motors and e-transaxles for electric vehicles, including the all-electric F-150. This will retain 225 jobs, Ford said.
Ford said it is also planning to increase production for the fully electric F-150 at the Rouge Plant, which will add 200 permanent jobs in addition to a previously announced 300 jobs and is part of a $700 million investment in building the all-new F-150 and all-electric F-150.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau at 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more automotive news and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.