LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ford will invest $700 million mainly at its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, creating about 500 new jobs over the next four years. It comes alongside the rollout of the new 2023 Super Duty truck, which will be unveiled at Churchill Downs Tuesday night.
The company made the announcement Tuesday after a state board approved incentives Ford's investment in the state.
"Just think about what that means combined with last year over 5500 new jobs in one year," Governor Andy Beshear said. "This is a special partnership. Ford is an important part of team Kentucky and together we're going to be building the automobiles of the future."
One year ago to the day, Ford also announced the development of its electric battery park in Hardin County, which Beshear said was the largest economic investment in state history. Beshear said the new investment at the Louisville plant is the seventh largest investment in Jefferson County's history.
Most of the money will go to retool the truck plant, to help produce the new Super Duty truck, plus other vehicles made at the facility like the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator large SUVs.
"We’ve pretty much maximized what we can do at the plant," Ford's John Savona said. “We’re using technology to make sure this plant can compete in the future.”
The company has pledged to add around 500 jobs at the plant by 2026. It now employs about 4,400 hourly workers.
Todd Dunn, President of the UAW Local 862 union, said adaptation is key in continuing to attract new workers.
“I think it’s a joint approach and these are jobs our community is going to want, but it is competitive I’m not going to lie, everybody wants to do the best for their family," Dunn said. “The sky is the limit and with technology changing we want to be first on the block to say 'we’ll take that one.'”
Governor Beshear said Ford supports nearly 120,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state and has contributed more than $11.8 billion to Kentucky's economy.
The investment will support vehicle production, mainly new versions of the Super Duty pickup. Ford was to unveil a revamped Super Duty for the 2023 model year at Churchill Downs on Tuesday night.
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