Ford to add jobs to increase output of electric vehicles

Ford Motor said on Tuesday it prepares to hire 350 more U.S. workers to expand production capacity for its electric F-150 pickup truck in Michigan and add assembly of electric commercial vans at a plant located near Kansas City, Missouri.

The automaker said it also will add a second automobile at the Mexican factory that is already set to build the Mustang Mach-E electric sport utility vehicle. Ford did not reveal how many people would be employed for building the additional vehicle in Mexico, which would “share a similar electrified platform” as the Mach-E.

Ford will spend $150 million to add production of electric vehicle motors and transaxles at a transmission plant located in suburban Detroit, retaining 225 jobs.

The automaker’s recent electric vehicle investments are part of an $11.5 billion plan. Ford has promised the United Auto Workers (UAW) union that it will spend $6 billion in U.S. plants to build electric vehicles.

Ford will boost production capacity for an electric version of its F-150 large pickup by 50% from its original plans, bringing another 200 permanent jobs at a complex near its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Those jobs would be on top of 300 jobs promised earlier for the electric F-150 line.

The electric F-150, set to go on sale in 2022, will finish with electric pickups planned by Tesla Inc, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and several startup companies, in a segment that was not on the majority of the automakers’ product plans just some years ago.

Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford’s Americas and International Markets groups, said the decision to increase electric F-150 output was taken following the truck’s debut in June.

Following the response to the work-oriented electric truck from government agencies, commercial fleets, and individual buyers, the automaker started working on a substantial increase, Galhotra said.

Galhotra did not mention how many electric F-150s Ford will be able to build.

Ford will spend $100 million and hire 150 employees for building electric versions of its Transit commercial van, set to go on sale in 2022.