Ford had grand plans to transform its Oakville, Canada plant into a cutting-edge electric vehicle manufacturing and battery assembly hub. Those plans now seem in limbo, as the Dearborn automaker announced it will instead use the facility to assemble its F-Series Super Duty trucks.
The automaker said that boosting the production of its Super Duty trucks would add 1,800 jobs, 400 more than what would have been required to make the three-row electric SUV. Ford confirmed to InsideEVs that the three-row electric SUV, which CEO Jim Farley once described as a “personalized bullet train,” will not be made in Oakville. It's production location is to be confirmed.
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Ford's EV Sales Are Soaring.
Ford's EV sales were up 61% in the second quarter of 2024. But it's unclear if EV demand would be sustained without generous incentives and how the outcome of the presidential elections would impact EV policies.
Last year, Ford had announced a $1.3 billion investment to build a new campus in Oakville to make EVs, with retooling that was expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024 and production slated for 2025. Now it has committed $2.3 billion to install assembly and integrated stamping operations for Super Duty trucks at the Canada plant.
In April this year, Ford said transformation of the Oakville complex was set to begin as planned, but delayed its three-row electric SUV from 2025 to 2027. Without sharing specifics, Ford said the investment will make the plant “fully flexible” and pave the way for future “multi-energy technology.”
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“Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and people around the world and, even with our Kentucky Truck Plant and Ohio Assembly Plant running flat out, we can’t meet the demand,” Farley said in a press release. “At the same time, we look forward to introducing three-row electric utility vehicles…” he added.
Ford said earlier this year that it would continue focusing on its existing line-up of gas, hybrid, PHEV and BEV line-up, contingent on demand. There's also a range of affordable EVs in the pipeline under what Ford calls a "skunkworks" project.
Additionally, the automaker has made massive EV-focused investments in North America, including the BlueOval City complex in West Tennessee, two battery plants in Kentucky built in collaboration with SK On and a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Michigan in collaboration with CATL, the world’s largest battery maker.
