In a statement issued on Thursday, Ford Motor Co. announced that it plans to invest USD3.7 billion in new assembly plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio to produce gasoline powered, as well as electric vehicles.
The company said that USD2.3 billion of the total investment will be spent on the production of electric vehicles (EVs), as part of its plan to invest USD50 billion on EV manufacturing through 2026.
Officials from the company said that Ford is set to receive incentive packages of USD150 million and USD200 million from Michigan and Ohio respectively.
In line with the investments, the company also stated that it intends to add more than 6,200 hourly jobs, and convert almost 3,000 temporary workers to full time employees. Full time employees receive healthcare benefits and higher pay. According to the statement, it also plans to produce a new commercial electric vehicle by the middle of the decade.
Ford to invest USD50 billion through 2026
Earlier, in March, the company had said that it would increase its spending on EV production to USD50 billion through 2026, up from USD30 billion that it had previously announced. Ford also stated that it would operate its EV and Internal Combustion Engine operations as separate units. This has been seen as a move to catch up with EV industry leader Tesla.
Ford announced that it intends to produce more than 2 million EVs per year globally, almost one-third of its global production capacity, by the end of 2026.
Last year, in August, the US President Joe Biden had issued an order that set a goal for automakers to manufacture and sell 50 percent of new vehicles as electric or hybrid models by 2030.
The company announced an investment of USD2 billion across three facilities in Michigan in an effort to ramp up production of the F-150 Lightning truck to 150,000 units. It also announced plans to build gas-powered versions of the Ranger pickup and Mustang sports car. The total number of new jobs in the state to be created by the company is expected to be 3,200.
Ford’s operations in Ohio will witness a USD1.6 billion investment and is scheduled to create almost 1,900 new jobs. The factory is also slated to produce the proposed new electric commercial vehicle. Observers forecast that the new vehicle will be a next generation model of the e-Transit van, commencing in 2026.
USD100 million of Ford’s investment will be utilized in Missouri, and will see the addition of 1,100 workers for a third shift at its assembly plant in Kansas City, which aims to enhance production capacity of the electric and gas versions of the Transit van.
Ford also said US1 billion of the total investment announced on Thursday will be spent over the next five years to improve workplace conditions in the factories, including providing better access to healthy food, installing EV chargers in parking lots, and improved security and lighting in factory parking lots.