Ford increases SUV production and adds 550 jobs to the Kentucky facility
Ford is increasing production of its expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles and will add 550 new jobs to its Kentucky Truck Plant, where it collects the vehicles, the company said on Tuesday.
The car manufacturer will also transfer about 500 additional workers from its nearby Louisville Assembly Plant to handle 20 percent increase in production, which is expected to begin in July.
The move indicates strong demand for SUVs, which are based on the same platform and share many of the same features and parts.
Expedition sales increased 35 percent and achieved 5.6 percentage points in market share in their segment last year. Average USD 62,700 for SUV, about $ 1[ads1]1,700 more than the previous year. Navigator sales, the more premium version of the two vehicles rose 70 percent year-on-year to 17,839 units sold last year – That's the best year ago 2007.
The move also comes as Ford Mull's cutbacks in its workforce elsewhere, particularly among salaried workers in the United States and various roles abroad, especially in Europe. gives to cut about 5, 00 0 jobs in Germany and an unspecified number in the UK. It also plans an unspecified number of cuts to its salaried US workforce later this year. Ford said in 2018 that it is committed to a $ 11 billion plan to restructure its operations and improve performance.
Shares of the second largest US automaker have fallen 23 percent over the past 12 months, although they have risen more than 12 percent since the beginning of 2019, closing at $ 8.57 per share on Monday.
In recent years, automakers have distorted to keep up with an ever-intensifying shift away from more traditional passenger vehicles, such as sedans and compact cars, towards SUVs, pickup cars, and crossovers. Ford's cross-town rival General Motors recently made headlines for its plans to embark on heavy-duty factories and cutting jobs in the United States
