Ford has announced plans to produce F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at its plant in Oakville, Ontario. The automaker will initially produce 100,000 of the trucks at the Canadian facility.
The move has been celebrated by Unifor, the union that represents workers at the plant, as it will see production resume a year ahead of schedule. The facility has been idle since May, when construction of the Ford Edge ended. The Detroit automaker initially planned to convert Oakville Assembly to produce a three-row electric SUV by 2025, but later delayed production until 2027.
Now, Ford plans to start retooling the Ontario plant this summer, with a view to beginning production of Super Duty pickups by 2026.
“This new retooling plan for the Oakville plant addresses our union’s concerns with Ford Motor Company’s decision to delay new vehicle production for a period that was too long, too disruptive, and too harmful to accept,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne.
Payne added that the agreement will protect jobs “well into the future.” Indeed, Unifor reports that Ford will build an electrified version of the F-Series Super Duty at the plant later this decade.
Ford will spend around $3 billion to expand production of the truck, including $2.3 billion to install assembly and integrated stamping in Oakville. The Super Duty is currently built at two plants in the U.S., but the company’s CEO, Jim Farley, said that customer demand is still outpacing its production capacity.
“Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and people around the world and, even with our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant running flat out, we can’t meet the demand,” he said, in a statement. “This move benefits our customers and supercharges our Ford Pro commercial business.”
In addition to adding 1,800 jobs at the Oakville Assembly Complex, the extra production capacity will also result in an additional 150 jobs at Ford’s Windsor Engine Complex, and a handful of new jobs at the automaker’s parts-making facilities in Sharonville, Ohio, and Sterling, Michigan.
Farley added that Ford is still working to prepare its three-row all-electric SUV for production. It is not yet clear how today’s announcement will impact production plans for the upcoming EV.
You may also like
