Ford Motor to overhaul EV plant in Canada with $1.3B investment

Ford Motor revealed its plans to invest $1.3 billion for the construction of a complex in Oakville, Ontario. The automaker is looking to turn this facility into a hub that will produce more electric vehicles.

Ford Motor is actually transitioning its existing Oakville Assembly Plant to the said Canadian location. The company said on Tuesday, April 11, that the goal is to transform it into a new EV facility and will be renamed Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex.

This will be the site where the Dearborn, Michigan-headquartered automobile manufacturer, will build its line of next-generation electric vehicles. Its target is to release the new EVs around mid-decade. According to CNBC, the rebuilding of the site was estimated to take six months, and work will start in the second quarter of 2024.

The overhaul at the Oakville complex will include the consolidation of the three body shops, and Ford Motor will add a battery pack assembly facility. They will use cells that will be sourced from a battery plant in Kentucky that is still under construction.

“Canada and the Oakville complex will play a vital role in our Ford+ transformation. It will be a modern, super-efficient, vertically integrated site for battery and vehicle assembly,” Ford Motor president and chief executive officer, Jim Farley, said in a press release. “I am most excited for the world to see the incredible next-generation electric and fully digitally connected vehicles produced in Oakville.”

Ford Canada’s president and CEO, Bev Goodman, further said, “Ford of Canada has been a leader in the country’s auto industry since it was founded 119 years ago. The successful transition to EV production in Oakville will help deliver stable Canadian employment with the opportunity to build the new skills and expertise to drive Ford and the industry forward.”