Ford Will Add 450 More Jobs To Three Metro Detroit Plants

DEARBORN, MI — Ford Motor Company said on Thursday it will invest $250 million at three Metro Detroit Ford assembly plants to increase production of the new Ford F-150 Lightning truck, according to a news release.

The investment will add 450 hourly jobs at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center and Rawsonville Components Plant, in an effort to increase production to 80,000 trucks a year.

As of Thursday, 150,000 reservations for F-150 Lightning have been made so far.

"We knew the F-150 Lightning was special, but the interest from the public has surpassed our highest expectations and changed the conversation around electric vehicles," Bill Ford, the executive chair of Ford said. "This truck and the Ford-UAW workers who are assembling it in Michigan have a chance to make history and lead the electric vehicle movement in America."

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Governor Gretchen Whitmer also joined Ford in making the announcement and said Ford's efforts to produce electric vehicles will help meet the state's goal to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

Most of the production on the F-150 Lightning will be at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, while Workers at the Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti will assemble the batteries and Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center in Steering Heights will supply electric motors and electric transaxles for the F-150 Lightning.