Ford Refits Louisville Plant, Adds 1,800 Jobs

Ford Motor Company announced plans to invest $600 million to retool its Louisville Assembly Plant for the production of the next-generation Escape for the North America market starting late next year. The plant has been producing the Ford Explorer SUV since 1989 and is the third plant that undergoes modernization to enable production of fuel-efficient products from its global vehicle platforms.

When it becomes operational in 2011, the Louisville Assembly Plant will employ about 2,900 workers in two shifts, up from today’s one shift and approximately 1,100 employees.

"Our Louisville Assembly Plant transformation further proves our commitment to American manufacturing and our commitment to deliver the high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles people really want,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas.

“Working closely with the UAW and Kentucky officials, we have found a way to competitively deliver an important new vehicle that is good for our customers and supports our plan to deliver a well-balanced product portfolio of cars, trucks and utilities.”

Ford will release a concept version of the next-generation Escape at the upcoming North American International Auto Show in January.

The plant will be able to build up to six models at the same time, thanks to reprogrammable tooling in the body shop, making Louisville Assembly Plant Ford’s most flexible high-volume plant in the world.

“Manufacturing flexibility is a key to competitiveness, and we are continually exploring ways to raise the bar in this critical area of the business,” said Jim Tetreault, Ford’s vice president of North America Manufacturing.

“While we are launching Louisville Assembly Plant with one key product – the next-generation Ford Escape – we are building in the flexibility to produce other vehicles at the plant in the future, depending upon volume requirements, customer preferences and other factors that affect vehicle demand,” added Tetreault.