Ford Motor Co. is investing $1 billion in one of its most important factories that assembles the biggest profit makers at the company.
Ford said on Sept. 10 that the money will go to Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky, to build a "state-of-the-art" paint shop and further modernize the factory.
Ford will break ground on the new paint shop and start the other upgrades at Kentucky Truck Plant — where it builds the F-Series Super Duty pickup, the Expedition SUV and the Lincoln Navigator SUV — by late this year, it said.
This new investment is on top of the $2 billion Ford is investing to transform its Louisville Assembly Plant for production of Ford’s new Universal Electric Vehicle Platform. Ford will build the new all-electric midsize pickup
Fathom on the UEV starting next year. A family of EVs will follow production of the Fathom off the UEV platform. Ford expects to "create or secure" nearly 2,200 jobs in Louisville while transforming the facility.
Ford also is investing nearly $2 billion at Ford Energy Systems in Glendale, Kentucky. There, Ford will manufacture battery energy storage systems for Ford Energy, a new business that is a subsidiary of Ford. The investment is expected to create at least 2,100 new jobs with production beginning in late 2027.
“For more than a century, Ford and Kentucky have grown together, and we’re investing to ensure that relationship remains strong for generations to come,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. "These investments demonstrate our confidence in Kentucky’s workforce, our commitment to American manufacturing, and our belief that the future of mobility and energy will be built right here in the United States.”
Investment is amid political upheaval
The UAW Local 862, which represents the union members who work at Kentucky Truck Plant, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment on Ford's investment announcement.
This news comes on the heels of a Trump administration official chastising Ford earlier in the week. As the Detroit Free Press reported on Sept. 8, in a letter from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to Farley, Duffy expressed concern over Ford's relationships with Chinese companies and he shared his dismay over Ford's timeline for bringing production of the Lincoln Nautilus from China to the United States. Ford has said it would bring back that production in 2030 and Duffy wants it to happen sooner.
Ford's top lawyer told the Detroit Free Press on Sept. 9 that the automaker was surprised by the unexpected critical letter saying the automaker has had a good relationship with the Trump administration and Ford strives to be the most American automaker in its U.S. vehicle manufacturing and employee count.
Steve Croley, Ford's chief policy officer and general counsel, told the Detroit Free Press on Sept. 9 the automaker called the White House regarding Duffy's letter and had a positive conversation. The White House later that day posted on the social media platform X, calling Ford "a GREAT American company" that "has done a tremendous job on increasing investments domestically and shoring production back to the U.S."
Kentucky Truck Plant key to profits
Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville is Ford's largest and highest-revenue plant, employing more than 11,500 people and where a vehicle rolls off the assembly line every 45 seconds, the automaker said. Ford’s roots in Kentucky date back to 1913, when the first Model T rolled off the production line in Louisville.
The vehicles Ford makes at the plant are some of its bestsellers that carry wide profit margins. From January through the end of August, Ford reported it sold 13,930 Lincoln Navigators, a 5.5% decline from the year-ago period but the third-best seller in the luxury brand's lineup.
Ford does not separate the Super Duty from total F-Series sales, but the pickups are Ford's top sellers and through August Ford has sold 494,060 F-Series trucks. It's an 11% decline from the year-ago period as Ford struggles to get its inventory of the pickups higher after two fires at Ford's key aluminum supplier last fall disrupted vehicle production.
Ford has sold 53,973 Expeditions through the end of August, a 11.6% decline compared with the year-ago period.
Ford said the planned paint shop investment at Kentucky Truck Plant will further enhance the plant’s long-term competitiveness because the upgraded technology will deliver cleaner and more efficient paint quality. Ford, which has led the industry in recalls and struggled with quality in recent years, has been making several changes in its engineering, design and manufacturing processes to improve production, efficiency, advanced environmental sustainability and quality of its vehicles.
Farley spoke with the Detroit Free Press about quality in an exclusive interviewvia Teams Aug. 13 and he outlined how Ford changed its culture and quality controls in the past few years to get past a disastrous Super Duty launch a few years ago and to ensure it never happens again.
Ford has been touting that it is on the right path, pointing to being ranked first by JD Power in an Intial Quality Survey this year among mainstream brands for the top quality in the first 90 days of vehicle ownership.
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer at USA TODAY Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford to invest $1B in Kentucky plant that makes key trucks, SUVs
