LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Ford Motor Co. will invest nearly $2 billion retooling a Kentucky factory to produce electric vehicles that it says will be more affordable, more profitable to build, and will outcompete rival models.
The automakers top executive unveiled the new EV strategy Monday at Fords Louisville Assembly Plant which, after producing gas-powered vehicles for 70 years, will be converted to manufacture electric vehicles.
We took a radical approach to solve a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that are breakthrough in every way that matters design, technology, performance, space and cost of ownership and do it with American workers, Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a release.
The Big Detroit automakers have continued to transition from internal combustion engines to EV technology even as President Donald Trumps administration unwinds incentives for automakers to go electric. Trumps massive tax and spending law targets EV incentives, including the imminent removal of a credit that saves buyers up to $7,500 on a new electric car.
Yet Farley and other top executives in the auto industry say that electric vehicles are the future and there is no going back.
The first EV to roll off the revamped Louisville assembly line will be a midsize, four-door electric pickup truck in 2027 for domestic and international markets, the company said Monday.
The new electric trucks will be powered by lower-cost batteries made at a Ford factory in Michigan. The Detroit automaker previously announced a $3 billion investment to build the battery factory.
The automaker sees this as a Model T moment for its EV business a reference to the mass-produced vehicle that launched the venerable automaker more than a century ago. But Ford says its also a nod to the future and the vastly different way Ford says it will build electric vehicles.
The company said it will use a universal platform and production system for its EVs, essentially the underpinning of a vehicle that can be applied across a wide range of models, from sedans to SUV, and include both electric internal combustion vehicles.
The Louisville factory one of two Ford assembly plants in Kentuckys largest city will be revamped to cut production costs and make assembly time faster as its prepared to churn out electric vehicles.
The result will be an affordable electric vehicle that we expect to be profitable, Farley said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the announcement. This is an example of us rejuvenating our U.S. plants with the most modern manufacturing techniques.
The new platform enables a lineup of affordable vehicles to be produced at scale, Ford said. It will reduce parts by 20% versus a typical vehicle, with 25% fewer fasteners, 40% fewer workstations dock-to-dock in the plant and a 15% faster assembly time, Ford said. The traditional assembly line will be transformed into an assembly tree at the Louisville plant, it said. Instead of one long conveyor, three sub-assembly lines will operate simultaneously and then join together, it said.
Nobody wants to see another good college try by a Detroit automaker to make an affordable vehicle that ends up with idled plants, layoffs and uncertainty, Farley said in the release. So, this has to be a good business. From Day 1, we knew there was no incremental path to success. ... We reinvented the moving assembly line.
Other specifications for the midsize electric truck C including its reveal date, starting price, EPA-estimated battery range, battery sizes and charge times will be announced later, the company said. Ford revealed in its release that the truck will have a targeted starting price of about $30,000.
Ford said its investment in the Louisville plant will secure 2,200 hourly jobs.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that the automakers plans for the Louisville plant will strengthen a more than century-old partnership between Ford and the Bluegrass State.
This announcement not only represents one of the largest investments on record in our state, it also boosts Kentuckys position at the center of EV-related innovation and solidifies Louisville Assembly Plant as an important part of Fords future, Beshear said.
Ford said its combined investment of about $5 billion at the Kentucky assembly plant and Michigan battery plant is expected to create or secure nearly 4,000 direct jobs between the two plants while strengthening the domestic supply chain with dozens of new U.S.-based suppliers.
Ford previously forecast weaker earnings growth for this year and further losses in its electric vehicles business as it works to control costs. Model e, Fords electric vehicle business, posted a full-year loss of $5.08 billion for 2024 as revenue fell 35% to $3.9 billion.
Fords new EV strategy comes as Chinese automakers are quickly expanding across the globe, offering relatively affordable electric vehicles.
Were not in a race to build the most electric cars, Farley told the AP when asked about competition from China. Were in a race to have a sustainable electric business thats profitable, that customers love.
And this new vehicle built in Louisville, Kentucky, is going to be a much better solution to anything that anyone can buy from China, he added.
美联社肯塔基州路易斯维尔电 —— 福特汽车公司宣布将投资近20亿美元改造其位于肯塔基州的工厂，用于生产新型电动汽车。该公司表示，这些车型将更具价格优势、制造利润更高，并能在市场竞争中超越同类竞品。
这家汽车制造商的最高管理层周一在福特路易斯维尔装配厂公布了新的电动汽车战略。该厂在生产燃油车70年后，将转型生产电动汽车。
福特汽车首席执行官吉姆·法利在声明中表示："我们采用了一种激进的方法来解决一个非常艰巨的挑战：打造在各方面都具有突破性的平价车型——包括设计、技术、性能、空间和拥有成本——并且由美国工人来完成这一目标。"
尽管唐纳德·特朗普政府逐步取消了对汽车制造商转向电动化的激励措施，底特律大型汽车制造商仍在持续推进从内燃机向电动汽车技术的转型。特朗普的大规模税收和支出法案针对电动汽车激励政策，包括即将取消一项可为新电动车购买者节省高达7500美元的税收抵免。
然而，法利（Farley）与汽车行业的其他高管们均表示，电动汽车代表未来趋势，这一趋势已不可逆转。
该公司周一表示，2027年从改造升级后的路易斯维尔装配线下线的首款电动汽车将是一款面向国内外市场的中型四门电动皮卡。
新型电动卡车将采用福特汽车在密歇根州工厂生产的低成本电池提供动力。这家底特律汽车制造商此前宣布投资30亿美元建设该电池工厂。
这家汽车制造商将其视为电动车业务的“T型车时刻”——一个世纪前，正是这款量产车型成就了这家老牌车企的辉煌。但福特公司表示，此举也预示着未来，以及该公司宣称将采用的全新电动车生产方式。
该公司表示，将为其电动汽车采用通用平台和生产系统，这一基础架构可广泛应用于从轿车到SUV等多种车型，并同时涵盖电动及内燃机车型。
位于肯塔基州最大城市路易斯维尔的两家福特汽车装配厂之一——路易斯维尔工厂将进行改造，以降低生产成本并缩短装配时间，为生产电动汽车做好准备。
福特汽车公司首席执行官吉姆·法利在宣布这一消息前接受美联社采访时表示：『最终产品将是一款经济实惠且有望实现盈利的电动汽车。这是我们运用最现代制造技术重振美国工厂的典范。』
福特公司表示，新平台可实现一系列经济型车型的大规模生产。与传统车型相比，该平台将减少20%的零部件、25%的紧固件，工厂内工作站间的流转距离缩短40%，装配时间加快15%。路易斯维尔工厂的传统装配线将升级为"装配树"模式，即取消单一长传送带，改为三条子装配线同步运行后再汇合组装。
法利在声明中表示："没有人愿意看到底特律汽车制造商再次尝试打造平价车型，最终却落得工厂闲置、员工裁员和前景未卜的下场。因此，这必须是一门好生意。从第一天起，我们就明白渐进式改革无法取得成功......我们重新发明了流水装配线。"
该公司表示，这款中型电动皮卡的其他规格——包括发布日期、起售价、美国环保署（EPA）预估续航里程、电池容量及充电时间等——将于后续公布。福特在新闻稿中透露，该车型目标起售价约为3万美元。
福特公司表示，其对路易斯维尔工厂的投资将保障2200个按小时计薪的工作岗位。
肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔（Andy Beshear）周一表示，该汽车制造商对路易斯维尔工厂的投资计划，将进一步巩固福特汽车公司与肯塔基州（别称蓝草州）长达一个多世纪的合作伙伴关系。
贝希尔表示："这项声明不仅标志着肯塔基州有史以来最大规模的投资之一，还巩固了该州在电动汽车相关创新领域的核心地位，并使路易斯维尔装配厂成为福特未来战略的重要组成部分。"
福特汽车表示，其在肯塔基州组装工厂和密歇根州电池工厂共计约50亿美元的投资，预计将为这两家工厂创造或保障近4000个直接就业岗位，同时通过引入数十家美国本土新供应商来强化国内供应链体系。
福特汽车此前预测，由于公司正着力控制成本，今年盈利增长将更为疲软，且电动汽车业务亏损将进一步扩大。其旗下电动汽车部门Model e在2024年录得全年亏损50.8亿美元，营收下降35%至39亿美元。
福特公司推出新的电动汽车战略之际，中国汽车制造商正快速向全球扩张，提供价格相对实惠的电动汽车。
当被问及来自中国的竞争时，法利（Farley）对美联社表示：“我们并非在竞相生产最多的电动汽车，而是在努力打造一个可持续、盈利且受客户喜爱的电动汽车业务。”
他还补充道："这款在肯塔基州路易斯维尔生产的新车，将比任何人能从中国买到的产品都要出色得多。"
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