As the firm and the automotive industry begin to recover from weak U.S. sales in 2022, Ford will increase the manufacturing of six models this year, half of which are electric, the company revealed Friday.
Ford Motor Company intends to increase production of the Mustang Mach-E, Bronco Sport SUV and Maverick compact pickup, F-150 Lightning electric pickup, Transit and E-Transit gas and electric full-size vans, and all of the aforementioned models.
The company announced last year that it would add a third shift and 1,100 jobs to its full-size van plant in Claycomo, Missouri, close to Kansas City, as well as 3,200 additional jobs related to the production of the F-150 Lightning, which is made in Dearborn, Michigan, to help with production growth.
According to spokesperson Said Deep, Ford will also hire a number of new employees this year at the Cuautitlan and Hermosillo, Mexico, plants that manufacture the Mach-E, Maverick and Bronco Sport. More workers will arrive later, he said, and production line speeds will soon increase to boost output.
For more than two years, U.S. auto sales have been depressed largely due to a shortage of computer chips during the coronavirus pandemic. But the chip shortage is easing and automakers like Ford are starting to increase production and build supplies on dealer lots.
Overall in the U.S., auto sales fell almost 8% last year to just under 14 million, with Ford's dropping just over 2%, according to Autodata Corp. But in February, overall industry sales rose 9.5% over the same month a year ago, according to LMC Automotive, which sees sales increasing to 15 million this year. Ford sales were up almost 22% in February.
Jeff Schuster, executive vice president of automotive at LMC and Global Data, declared that the industry was on the road to recovery. In order to control its full-size pickup truck inventory, crosstown rival General Motors will shut down manufacturing in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, for two weeks beginning March 27.
As a battery caught fire during a pre-delivery quality check, Ford stopped making the F-150 Lightning in February. However, the battery problem has been fixed, and production will begin on March 13 at a rate of 150,000 units annually, said Deep.
By the end of the year, Mach-E production will increase to a rate of 210,000 units annually, and the business intends to increase Bronco Sport and Maverick manufacturing by 80,000 units this year. Transit and E-Transit production will rise by 38,000 this year.