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Ford Announces $1 Billion Investment In Chicago Plants

Ford Chicago Assembly Plant 97 photos
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The 2020 Explorer and Aviator are important models for the Ford Motor Company. To this effect, the Blue Oval decided to pour $1 billion over the Chicago Assembly and Chicago Stamping plants, an investment that adds 500 full-time jobs for a grand total of 5,800 workers.
“We are proud to be America’s top producer of automobiles. Today, we are furthering our commitment to America with this billion-dollar manufacturing investment in Chicago and 500 more good-paying jobs,” declared Joe Hinrichs, president of global operations. “We reinvented the Explorer from the ground up, and this investment will further strengthen Ford’s SUV market leadership.”

Joe doesn’t mention anything about the rest of the world, which is losing ground in terms of market share and sales. Ford of Europe is laying off thousands of workers, slashing the lineup in the process to restore profitability as part of the automaker’s reorganization plan.

Dating back to October 2017, Jim Hackett announced that Ford would slash $14 billion in costs over the course of five years. General Motors had the audacity to lay off workers and close down plants in the United States, but Ford doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of Donald Trump.

In addition to the Explorer and Aviator, Chicago is the place where Ford also produces the all-new Police Interceptor Utility. Most of those green dollar bills will go into a new body shop and paint shop, modifications to the final assembly area, new stamping lines, and “advanced manufacturing technologies.”

How advanced? Ford mentions “a robot with a camera that inspects electrical connections during the manufacturing process” and “3D-printed tools.” Neither is actually advanced if we compare them with the rest of the automotive industry, but when was Ford modest about its PR?

Throughout 2018, the Ford Motor Company built in the ballpark of 2.4 million vehicles in the United States, making it the number one automaker in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The Blue Oval also happens to be the leading exporter of vehicles from the U.S., as well as the leading employer of hourly workers in the automotive industry.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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