In order to produce next-generation electric vehicles, Ford Motor Company said it would invest $1.34 billion ($1.8 billion Canadian) in converting its SUV manufacturing in a suburban Toronto area.
Depending on the state of the market, the approximately 3,000 employees at the facility in Oakville, Ontario, are anticipated to keep their jobs, the business stated on Tuesday. But, during a six-month construction project that will start in the second quarter of 2024, some manufacturing staff will be placed on furlough.
The 487-acre facility, which will now be known as the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, won’t be home to any specific models, according to Ford. The Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus gas-powered SUVs are currently produced at the plant.
In order to make room for putting together battery packs on-site, the business claims it will combine three body shops into one at the plant. The lithium-ion cells will originate from the Kentucky joint-venture battery plant that Ford is planning.
Ford also declined to estimate how many electric cars the factory will be able to produce annually. The change is a milestone in Ford’s strategy to increase factory capacity so that by the end of 2026, 2 million EVs would be produced annually.
The business intends to begin producing EVs at the location that will be sold in North America in 2025.