Ford Invests $100M in Kansas City for E-Transit Manufacturing
Photo: Ford
Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant, which just celebrated the launch of the 2021 Ford F-150, is adding another crucial production to its production slate. Ford Motor Company announced Tuesday that the Kansas City plant will build the upcoming E-Transit electric van, which the automaker reveals in full on Thursday.
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An additional $100 million investment enables the Kansas City plant to hire an estimated 150 full-time employees. This brings Ford’s total investment in North American electric vehicle manufacturing to $3.2 billion. Ford also invested $300 million in Kansas City last year to support the start of production on the next-generation F-150.
E-Transit key in Ford’s electrification push
Ford announced in September that it will build the upcoming all-electric F-150 at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn. At the time, Ford said it would add 300 new jobs to support the production of the electric F-150. On Tuesday, the automaker said it’s increasing that by 200 additional jobs to accommodate early interest. Production of the all-electric F-150 kicks off in mid-2022.
“We’re taking our most iconic vehicles and using fully electric technology to deliver even more performance, productivity, and capability for customers,” said Ford Motor Company President of the Americas and International Markets Group Kumar Galhotra. “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.”
Ford will also pump an additional $150 million into its Van Dyke Transmission Plant. The investment allows the plant to retain 225 jobs and prop up production of e-motors and e-transaxles beginning in 2021.
Ford is investing $11.5 billion in global electrification through 2022. This investment covers vehicles like the new Mustang Mach-E, which began rolling off the assembly line in Mexico this month.
Ford says the E-Transit will arrive by late next year. Full details on the electric van will be revealed on Thursday, Nov. 12.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.