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Ford Spending $1.3 Billion to Retool Kentucky F-150 Truck Plant
Ford Motor Co. is investing $1.3 billion to convert its truck plant in Louisville, Ky., to begin making the all-new, aluminum-bodied F-Series Super Duty pickup truck in mid-2016.
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Ford Motor Co. is investing $1.3 billion to convert its truck plant in Louisville, Ky., to begin making the all-new, aluminum-bodied F-Series Super Duty pickup truck in mid-2016.
The spending will pay for an all-new body shop, retooling and other plant upgrades. Ford also will add about 2,000 jobs at the factory to build five variants of the new Super Duty truck. The facility currently employs 4,400 workers.
Ford says the aluminum-intensive Super Duty truck will weigh about 350 lbs less than the current model but feature a larger cab, more payload capacity and greater towing ability. The Super Duty series accounts for more than 25% of F-Series sales.
Ford CEO Mark Fields has described the Kentucky retooling project as a “normal” launch that will be accomplished during vacation and routine shutdown periods. That’s in sharp contrast to the months of retooling required to launch the original aluminum F-150 pickup in 2014.
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