A Ford Motor Co. plant in Canada will produce F-Series Super Duty trucks starting in 2026, and the Dearborn automaker will move the launch of an all-electric three-row SUV to another unspecified plant after delaying the program there.
Ford is investing $3 billion to add an initial annual capacity of 100,000 F-Series Super Duty trucks to the Oakville, Ontario, assembly complex near Toronto, where production of the Ford Edge crossover ended in May. The plant will produce diesel and gasoline-powered trucks and support next-generation electrified models in the future.
The plant expansion, which will retain 1,800 jobs, meets demand from the automaker’s profit-driving Ford Pro business unit. Super Duty production at truck assembly plants in Kentucky and Ohio is running at full capacity with 200,000 vehicles produced in the first half of the year, the company said. The F-Series, which includes the F-150 light-duty truck, is the nation’s best-selling model.
“Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and individuals around the world, and while our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant are running at full capacity, we can’t keep up with demand. This initiative benefits our customers and energizes our Ford Pro business,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “At the same time, we look forward to introducing three-row electric utility vehicles, leveraging our experience in three-row utility vehicles and our learnings as America’s second-largest EV brand to deliver exciting, profitable vehicles.”
Ford is the only one of the Big Three Detroit automakers to produce all of its trucks in the United States and employs the most hourly auto workers in the country. Last fall, the United Auto Workers decided to strike at Kentucky Truck, its most profitable plant that produces Super Duty and full-size SUVs, because it was the first full-size truck plant to be hit by a walkout. As a result, Farley said earlier this year that Ford had to “think carefully about our (manufacturing) footprint.”
The expansion to Oakville, however, will allow for a staggered changeover from year to year, spokeswoman Jessica Enoch said. That means Super Duty production won’t be completely halted by Kentucky Truck’s retooling. Ohio Assembly produces the specialized chassis cab version of the Super Duty. Oakville will be able to produce both the pickup and chassis cab models.
If demand declines, U.S. plants will take priority over production, Enoch said. The UAW contract with Ford calls for a $750 million investment in Kentucky Truck, which includes continued production of the Super Duty and new hybrid versions of the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs.
Government investments in infrastructure, the rollout of 5G telecommunications systems and the encouragement of domestic manufacturing have boosted Ford Pro sales.
“Demand for Super Duty is supported by Ford Pro customers as spending on infrastructure and related construction activities remains elevated,” Ted Cannis, Ford Pro CEO, said in a statement. “Many retail customers were unable to get their trucks quickly enough due to our production constraints.”
Ford Pro had a 16.7% profit margin in the first quarter. Having more Ford Pro vehicles on the road could prompt the company to expand its software services and telematics businesses, which offer even higher margins than the vehicles themselves, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for electric mobility at market research firm Guidehouse Inc.
Super Duty pickups have proven their durability in the marketplace over the past two decades, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC.
“It’s a good product to put in that plant to keep it alive,” he said. “Giving Ford some trucks that are a little more profitable and in high demand will help their bottom line as they move to electric vehicles.”
That means producing more vehicles that produce some of the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions will help fund the transition to zero-emission vehicles. U.S. fuel economy and emissions regulations allow automakers to tailor their production mix to meet the standards, regardless of technology, and the rules finalized under the Biden administration included more flexible targets than initially proposed.
A Trump administration could further roll back those regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down the Chevron Doctrine, reducing the power of federal agencies to interpret laws, also calls those regulations into question, Abuelsamid said.
“They were going to do it anyway,” he said of expanding Super Duty production. “They looked at their business needs and they found they needed to build more of these trucks. This (Oakville) plant is available. It made sense.”
Details about the electric powertrains that might be available on the next-generation Super Duty were not released, but the lineup will likely include some type of hybrid option and possibly an extended-range electric vehicle model with an onboard generator, analysts said. Ford executives have recently spoken of interest in the technology.
The investment in Oakville includes $2.3 billion to install an integrated assembly and stamping facility. It will create about 1,800 jobs in Oakville, 400 more than would have been needed initially to produce the three-row electric SUV. It will also add about 150 jobs at the Windsor Engine Complex to build more V-8 engines.
This will create approximately 70 jobs and additional overtime at component plants in the United States. $24 million will be invested in the Sharonville, Ohio, transmission plant and additional overtime. The Rawsonville, Michigan, component plant will receive $1 million and approximately 20 new jobs. The Sterling Axle plant in Michigan will create approximately 50 new jobs.
“This investment will benefit Ford, our employees in Canada and the U.S., and most importantly our customers who want and need Super Duty for their lives and livelihoods,” said Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s chief operating officer, in a statement. “It fits perfectly with our Ford+ plan for profitable growth as we take steps to maximize our global manufacturing footprint, and our investments will quickly pay for themselves.”
Workers represented by the Canadian Unifor union in Oakville will return a year earlier than planned because of a delay in the three-row SUV program. Ford announced in April that it was delaying the launch of that vehicle to 2027 from 2025 in anticipation of better battery technology and growth in electric vehicle sales that has slowed over the past year.
“This new retooling plan for the Oakville plant addresses our union’s concerns about Ford Motor Company’s decision to delay production of new vehicles for a period of time that is too long, too disruptive and too damaging to accept,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement. “Working with our locals and company leadership, we have reached an agreement that will not only get our members back to work sooner, but will also protect their jobs for years to come.”
It’s not yet clear where the three-row SUV will be built or whether it will launch in 2027. Analysts have suggested there are multiple locations where Ford could build the vehicle. The new $5.6 billion BlueOval City campus in Stanton, Tennessee, which includes a battery plant and a new electric vehicle assembly plant, is expected to begin delivering a next-generation F-Series truck in 2026.
That site could be an option, or the SUV could replace F-150 Lightning production at the Dearborn Electric Vehicle Center. Ford’s UAW contract, however, designates a new electric truck for the site as part of a $900 million investment with the Dearborn Truck Assembly Plant.
One of the original plans was to build the all-electric SUV at the same site as the Mustang Mach-E SUV in Cuautitlán Izcalli, Mexico, Abuelsamid noted. Another option could be the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, which builds the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair SUVs, Fiorani said. The UAW contract already calls for a $1.2 billion investment and a new electric product there.
Although Ford has announced a 72% increase in U.S. electric vehicle sales and a 50% increase in hybrid sales in the first half of 2024 compared to the previous year, the company expects to lose at least $5 billion on its Model e EV division this year. The changes to the planned production of the three-row electric SUV are part of the $12 billion in planned cuts and delays in EV investments that the company has already unveiled.
Ford executives highlighted the work being done by a small “skunkworks” team in California to create an all-electric platform capable of supporting cost-effective yet affordable electric vehicles with a starting price of $25,000 to $30,000.
The SUV’s delay and change of location reflect a longer-than-expected transition to electric vehicles, Fiorani said: “Buyers weren’t just going to line up and spend $70,000 on a new electric vehicle. These buyers want reasonably priced vehicles and the comfort of knowing the product, which is driving them toward internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrids.”
bnoble@detroitnews.com
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