By Sam Boughedda
Ford Motor (NYSE:F) announced Tuesday that it is investing $700 million and creating 500 additional hourly manufacturing jobs in Kentucky to support new vehicle production.
The investment is part of the vehicle company's Ford+ plan for growth and value creation. Ford said the investment will also support an all-new F-Series Super Duty pickup built at its Kentucky plant in Louisville.
Ford, the number 2 automaker in the US, is already expanding in Kentucky with its BlueOval SK Battery Park, a new $5.8 billion battery production complex Ford says will create 5,000 new jobs and power its future electric vehicles. BlueOval is a joint venture with SK On, its South Korean battery partner.
"Ford has been growing in Kentucky since the days of the Model T, and we are continuing to invest in the Bluegrass State to produce great vehicles that our customers love and depend on," said Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue.
On Tuesday, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority approved an additional project to an existing program agreement with Ford that can offer up to $430 million in cumulative tax incentives based on the company's total investment of $3.65 billion, with an annual job target requirement of up to 12,500 over the term of the agreement.