The American car manufacturer Ford has decided to invest up to 1,800 million Canadian dollars (1,224 million euros in exchange) to transform its plant located in Oakville (Canada) into a factory dedicated to the production of “high-volume” electric vehicles, according to The firm has reported in its latest statement.
The facilities, which will be renamed ‘Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex’ (Complejo de Vehículos Eléctricos Oakville, in Spanish), will begin to be remodeled and modernized in the second quarter of 2024. In this way, Ford will reuse and transform existing buildings into one” state-of-the-art facility” that will take advantage of the company’s “skilled and experienced” workforce in Canada.
The strategy of adapting facilities for electric vehicles will manufacture has also been applied by Ford at its factory in Cologne (Germany), where it will produce the electric Ford Explorer model for Europe and whose manufacture will start at the end of this year, this being one of the big bets of the company to strengthen itself in the market.
“Ford’s commitment to invest in upgrading these facilities signals a bright future for Canadian electric vehicle production and automotive employment,” said Unifor union national president Lana Payne. Despite this, the company needs this type of bet to improve its current situation with respect to electricity, since this sector cost it 2,100 million dollars.
Ford’s facilities in Oakville currently include three body shops, a painting building and an assembly building and after their adaptation they will have a new battery plant that closes factory cells at Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park in Kentucky (United States). Thus, the Oakville plant will assemble battery packs that will then be installed in the vehicles manufactured in the Canadian plant.
