DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Monday it would invest $50 million upgrading a Chicago facility to partially assemble hybrid electric SUVs and vehicles for police use, creating 450 jobs.
The plant currently modifies vehicles for police use. That work will be transferred to a nearby facility.
After retooling, the new production line will later this year start partially assembling hybrid versions of the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle and the luxury Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring SUV.
It will also partially assemble the Police Interceptor SUV.
On Friday, Ford said it would lay off about 200 workers in September at a Canadian manufacturing plant in Oakville, Ontario, with more layoffs possible in January, because of slowing sales of the sedans that the plant manufactures.
Overall, U.S. new vehicle sales are expected to fall this year, although pickup trucks and SUVs remain more popular than traditional passenger cars.
Last week, Ford also kicked off talks on a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers union, with job security, healthcare costs and the use of temporary workers expected to be major sticking points.
(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Peter Cooney)
While we are impatiently waiting for Tesla, Rivian, and others to bring their electric pickup trucks to market here in North America, China is already getting some.
Nissan is launching a new electric pickup truck through a Dongfeng joint venture in China: the Dongfeng Rich 6 EV.
With its aggressive zero-emission mandate, China has forced automakers to accelerate their deployment of all-electric vehicles in the country.
Several of them are now making EVs just for the Chinese market.
FLINT, Mich. (Reuters) – General Motors Co president Mark Reuss said on Wednesday that the automaker is investing about $150 million at its Flint Assembly plant in Michigan, to boost production of heavy duty trucks by another 40,000 vehicles a year.
Reuss announced the investment at the Flint truck assembly plant wearing a United Auto Workers pin.
The Detroit automaker announced in February it was adding 1,000 jobs in Flint to build a new generation of heavy-duty pickup trucks.
GM did not say that the latest investment would add more jobs at the plant, but Reuss said there could be opportunities to add workers as the launch of the automaker’s new trucks progresses.
FILE PHOTO: A Chevrolet 2020 heavy-duty pickup truck is seen at the General Motors Flint Assembly Plant in Flint
GM has been under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and lawmakers of both parties to add jobs in the United States after it said last November it would idle a small car assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, and had no new products for three other U.S. manufacturing plants.
The Flint investment will include upgrades to the plant’s conveyors and other new tooling, and will be completed in the first half of 2020. GM has invested more than $1.6 billion in the plant since 2013.
Last month, GM said it would invest $24 million to increase truck production at its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which makes Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models.
FILE PHOTO: The frames of Chevrolet 2019 heavy-duty pickup trucks sit on the assembly line in the paint department at General Motors Flint Assembly Plant
Sales of heavy-duty pickups in the United States have grown to more than 600,000 vehicles a year, up more than 20 percent since 2013, according to industry data. Prices for luxury models can easily top $70,000.
GM’s Chevrolet and GMC brands have long trailed Ford Motor Co’s F-series heavy duty trucks in the lucrative segment. The new Chevrolet and GMC heavy duty trucks have been re-engineered to tow heavier trailers, and keep pace in what has become an arms race among the Detroit Three automakers to claim superior torque and towing capability.
(Reporting by Joe White in Detroit and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Nick Zieminski)
FILE PHOTO: A General Motors Co. assembly worker does quality control checks on the paint of Chevrolet 2019 heavy-duty pickup trucks in Flint
