Ford is investing US$350m in its Livonia Transmission Plant, and adding a new transmission to expand its lineup of fuel-efficient powertrains, as part of the company’s plan to fortify its core automotive business.
The OEM will create or retain 800 hourly jobs to support production of the new transmission. Ford expects to begin adding jobs late this year, with the majority coming next year and in 2019.
“We remain committed to American manufacturing and investing in our people and facilities,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president, The Americas. “Even as the industry’s largest employer of hourly workers in the United States and biggest producer of American-made vehicles, we believe it is important to continue investing right here in our home market.”
In the past four months alone, Ford has announced more than US$2.25bn in new investments in Michigan. The company has invested US$12bn in its U.S. plants and created a total of nearly 28,000 U.S. jobs during the last five years.
The investment in Livonia Transmission Plant is in addition to the US$1.4bn and 500 created or retained hourly jobs announced for the plant in 2016, to support production of a new 10-speed transmission for the 2017 F-150 Raptor and certain other F-150 trucks.
The new facilities will support production of a new transmission for front-wheel-drive vehicles. This transmission is said to provide customers with a better-performing, more fuel-efficient vehicle. It will share software, design elements and manufacturing processes with the 10-speed and other future transmissions.
Livonia Transmission Plant employs approximately 1,800 people. It builds six-speed and 10-speed transmissions used in a number of vehicles including Mustang, F-150, Transit and Expedition.