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Ford Adds 550 Jobs In Kentucky Truck Plant To Boost SUV Production
22 Mar 2019, 7:53 UTC ·
by Mircea Panait
Home > News > Car Profile
If you’re in the market for a full-size SUV with truck underpinnings and convenience for the whole family, it’s hard to go wrong with the Expedition. Redesigned for the 2018 model year, Ford can’t keep up with demand for the successor of the fifth-generation Bronco.
26 photosWhat does an automaker do when people want a product but don’t like to wait for their order to roll off the assembly line? Invest in the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, of course! Adding 550 new jobs is just the tip of the iceberg, more so if you remember the Lincoln Navigator is also selling like hot cakes.
Through those 550 jobs, Ford plans to ramp up production by 20 percent. Expedition sales increased 35 percent in 2018 while the Navigator improved 70 percent. There’s also the matter of average transaction price, which grew by $11,700 to $62,700 last year.
Supporting these efforts, Ford is launching a new marketing campaign this week. “Better Big” focuses on the best-in-class towing and legroom of the Expedition, as well as the most driver-assist technology in the segment. “We ‘out-big’ the competition where it counts – towing, interior space and technology,” declared Matt VanDyke, director of U.S. marketing. “Our team completely rethought every inch of Expedition, and its growing sales reaffirm we hit the sweet spot with today’s full-size SUV customers.”
In addition to more workforce, the Kentucky Truck Plant has increased the line speed by cutting down the cycle times of each operation. How did Ford pull it off? By adding more workstations and splitting up tasks to ensure the employees can finish their jobs in the allotted time, thank you!
Production per se will increase after the summer shutdown in July 2019, and if you were wondering, the Expedition can seat eight people and tow up to 9,300 pounds. For first-time homeowners who are starting new families, that’s an offer few can refuse. Does it come as a surprise Ford is discontinuing most passenger cars in the U.S. lineup to focus on trucks and utilities? Not even slightly!
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