Ford Motor Company plans to invest nearly $2 billion in the Louisville Assembly Plant to expand and build a new midsize electric truck, creating thousands of jobs in Kentucky.
The investment is part of Ford’s foray into the electric vehicle market that will now include with a four-door electric pickup priced around $30,000. The pickup, which Ford says will be as fast as a Mustang EcoBoost, will be built using a new universal EV platform that the automaker says they’ll use to build affordable electric vehicles at scale.
Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley called the expansion a bet on electric cars and the state of Kentucky, saying that "automakers played it safe” for too long.
“We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters — design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership 00 and do it with American workers,” Farley said in a press release.
The automaker said it will expand the Louisville Assembly Plant by 52,000 square feet, upgrade its digital infrastructure and create 2,200 more jobs for Kentuckians. The company will also employ a new manufacturing model by breaking a traditional assembly line into three smaller assemblies that join together, making it up to 40% faster, according to a release.
The plant, which has been open since 1955, employs more than 3,300 people to make the Ford Escape and the Lincoln Corsair, according to 2024 data.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear joined Ford executives at the Louisville plant to tout Kentucky’s longstanding partnership with Ford.
“They’re going to help many Americans keep more money in their pockets. This is a massive investment in our Commonwealth,” Beshear said. “Jobs will be here in this plant in Kentucky for generations to come.”
Ford is also investing $3 billion in Michigan-based BlueOVal Battery Park to make Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic batteries for the electric pickup. Officials say the batteries will take up less space and decrease weight while reducing costs for customers.
In a press release, Ford said it will announce additional specs on the midsize electric pickup, including reveal date, starting price and estimated battery range, later.
