Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that it would invest $1 billion in its Chicago-area manufacturing operations to expand production of its Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator sport utility vehicles.
The announcement, made at the Chicago Auto Show, will add 500 jobs to two manufacturing facilities, the assembly plant and stamping plant, said Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of global operations. The expansion is part of a commitment the company made in its agreement with the United Auto Workers in 2015, and brings the total number of workers at its Chicago-area plants to 5,800.
The overhaul of the plants — an assembly plant at 12600 S. Torrence Ave. in Chicago and a stamping plant in Chicago Heights — is expected to begin in March and be completed in the spring.
“When it’s all finished, Chicago Assembly will have an all-new, state-of-the-art body shop, an all-new paint shop and new tooling to build this new lineup. And the Chicago Stamping Plant will have all new lines to support the new vehicles,” Hinrichs said.
The announcement comes as Ford continues a major restructuring put in place by CEO Jim Hackett, who was named to the position following the abrupt dismissal of Mark Fields in 2017.
In recent months, Ford has announced steep job cuts to its salaried workforce and an overhaul of its European operations as it embarks on a significant shift in its product lineup that includes the discontinuation of slower-selling sedans like the Fusion in favor of trucks and SUVs.
The changes come amid a recent decline in earnings, though workers at the two Chicago-area plants recently learned they would receive profit-sharing checks of $7,500 for 2018.
But as Ford continues its restructuring, its Chicago-area operations stand to benefit from the emphasis on larger vehicles.
“There’s good news today” for the plant’s workers, said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds, an auto-research website. Any plant that is involved in manufacturing larger vehicles like SUVs, she said, is in a stronger position as Ford restructures. But she added, “This is one small piece of a very large puzzle.”
The production of the Explorer ST, the Police Interceptor and the Aviator will add to Ford’s position as the top producer of vehicles in the U.S., with nearly 2.4 million built in 2018, the company said. “This investment will further strengthen Ford’s SUV market leadership,” Hinrichs said.
Ford also announced that it would spend $40 million to improve working conditions at the plants, including new team break areas on the plant floor, increased security, better lighting and a renovated cafeteria.
Working conditions have long been a source of scrutiny and legal trouble for the company. In 2017, The New York Times highlighted a history of sexual and racial harassment at the two plants. The article prompted an apology from Hackett and a promise of stricter oversight and training. And earlier that summer, workers reported an embarrassing string of auto thefts from the parking lots at the plants. A Ford spokeswoman said that the improvements were not a response to the reports.
The Chicago Assembly Plant — which began making the Model T in 1924 — represents one of the few large assembly operations remaining for Ford in a large American city. Many have closed as Ford has spread its manufacturing operations around the world.
But President Donald Trump has applied enormous pressure on domestic automakers to keep their plants, and the jobs that go with them, in the U.S. In 2017, in an abrupt reversal, Ford said it would cancel plans for a $1.6 billion plant to make small cars in Mexico, instead adding 700 jos to s plant in Michigan.
“It’s a real vote of confidence in this city,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, noting that in 2011, Ford added 1,200 jobs to the two plants. Emanuel also said that the city had ordered 200 new police cruisers from Ford.
Twitter @bob_goetz
MORE COVERAGE
