Ford Motor Co is expanding its production by investing $1B to Chicago assembly and stamping plants. This is in preparation for the three new SUVs the brand is set to release this year.
The automaker is developing more trucks and cross-over utility vehicles as the demand increased in the past years. Ford will be adding 500 more jobs in Chicago for the production of the new Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor.
The company is building a new body shop and paint shop at the Chicago plants as a move to make changes to the final assembly area, which includes 3D printing tools and robots.
“We are furthering our commitment to America with this billion-dollar manufacturing investment in Chicago and 500 more good-paying jobs,” said Global Operations President Joe Hinrichs.
Last year, Ford announced that it will not build sedan cars anymore but with the exception of the Ford Mustang. The company also stopped producing Ford Taurus last January as it will now focus on the production of SUVs.
The move to exit the Sedan market in the US is based on the decline of their sales to almost 13 per cent. Meanwhile, SUV sales increased to 0.5 per cent in 2018 and sales for light trucks rose to approximately 8 per cent, accounting to Ford’s 63 per cent of overall vehicle sales.
Given this situation, Ford had cut down jobs in Europe as part of the closure of some plants and discontinuation of some models.
