A 500,000-sq-ft hybrid electric F-150 truck manufacturing facility is being built at Ford Motor Co.'s Rouge Center in Dearborn, Mich. Once it's completed in summer 2021, the $700-million production facility is expected to add 300 jobs and produce Ford's F-150 PowerBoost hybrid truck.
“We are proud to once again build and innovate for the future here at the Rouge with the debut of our all-new F-150 and the construction of a modern new manufacturing center to build the first-ever, all-electric F-150,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman, Ford Motor Co. “This year’s COVID-19 crisis made it clear why it is so important for companies like Ford to help keep our U.S. manufacturing base strong and help our country get back to work.”
Ford executives said at a Sept. 17 event announcing the expansion they expect trucks to be produced at the 100-year-old Rouge Center late next year.
"We will use the current [Rouge Center] body and paint shop" in collaboration with the new building, said Gary Johnson, Ford's chief manufacturing and labor affairs officer, speaking at the event. "The building—it's going up. The expectation is we'll have the building completed sometime next summer. We'll start doing our early prototype builds as part of our launch plans. So, more to come. The steel is up."
Contractor Devon Industrial Group of Detroit began construction recently at the Rouge Center based on a design by architect-engineer DiClemente Siegel Design from Burton, Mich.