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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Ford Creating 1,800 Jobs at Kentucky's Louisville Assembly Plant

12/10/2010
Ford is investing $600 million and creating 1,800 jobs in Louisville, Kentucky, to produce the next generation of its Escape model SUV. The company will begin retooling its existing Louisville facility in mid-December.

"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."

The Louisville plant will reopen later in 2011. New technologies will allow employees to build up to six different vehicles simultaneously. This efficiency increase will permit Ford to meet demand more quickly based on consumer preferences.

"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."

Ford will receive a total of $240 million in state and local tax incentives over the next 10 years towards the project. That includes support from the U.S. Department of Energy, with which Ford has a green partnership.

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