Ford Invests $1.6B in Michigan, Ohio Manufacturing Plants

Updated at 2:51 p.m.

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DEARBORN, MI – Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will invest $1.6 billion to upgrade two manufacturing plants in Michigan and Ohio, a plan the Dearborn-based automaker said will create or retain 650 hourly jobs.

Ford will invest $1.4 billion in its Livonia Transmission plant and $200 million in its Ohio Assembly Plant, both part of the $9 billion commitment the company made in the 2015 UAW-Ford collective bargaining agreement to continue investing in its U.S. plants.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced the investment Tuesday.

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Ford is one of two Detroit Big Three automakers announcing investments in U.S. production facilities Tuesday. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will invest $74.7 million and retain 245 jobs at its Trenton North Engine Plant, where next-generation, 2-liter-four-cylinder engines will be produced.

Both Ford and Fiat Chrysler will receive a combined $28 million in incentives from the Michigan Strategic Fund, the state’s economic development funding program, the Detroit Free Press reports. Ford’s incentive is estimated to be worth $27.3 million over 15 years.

Ford said it has invested $12 billion in its U.S. plants and created a total of nearly 28,000 U.S. jobs in the past five years.

“We are proud that Ford employs more hourly workers and builds more vehicles in the United States than any other automaker,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford president, The Americas, said in a statement. “We are committed to manufacturing in the United States, as we have been for more than 100 years.”

The investment will create or retain 500 hourly jobs in Michigan, where the new 10-speed transmission introduced in the all-new F-150 Raptor and certain F-150 models will be built.

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The investment and 150 hourly jobs at Ohio Assembly Plant, located in Avon Lake, will be used to build Super Duty chassis cab. Both F-Series trucks are part of Ford’s toughest, smartest, most capable truck lineup ever.

Ford said it has created or retained 2,800 U.S. jobs in the past five months, and has committed to 8,500 hourly jobs in the United States in the next four years in communities across Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New York and Ohio.

More than 1,55o people are employed at the Livonia Transmission Plant, where a six-speed transmission used in a number of products,including Mustang, F-150, Transit and Expedition, are built. Production begins in June for the new 10-speed transmission.

The Ohio Assembly Plant employs more than 1,650 people. It began building F-350, F-450 and F-550 Super Duty chassis cab configurations earlier this year. The plant also produces Ford F-650 and F-750, which was insourced from Mexico last year, as well as Ford E-Series cutaway vans and stripped chassis.