Ford to produce F-Series pickups at Oakville plant starting in 2026

Ford Motor Co. says it plans to assemble its F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks at its Oakville, Ont., assembly plant starting in 2026, adding capacity of up to 100,000 additional units.

Ford is spending around US$3 billion to expand Super Duty production, which includes US$2.3 billion to install assembly and integrated stamping operations at the Oakville facility.

The company says the move will support 1,800 jobs at the plant.

Those positions will be filled by workers represented by Unifor who had previously been expected to return to work in 2027 after Ford announced earlier this year it was delaying the start of electric vehicle production at the plant by two years.

The U.S. automaker had said there would be layoffs associated with the delay to its plans to spend $1.8 billion to transform the Oakville site into a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing.

It says the increased production also adds around 150 jobs at the company's Windsor Engine Complex, which will manufacture more V8 engines for the Super Duty trucks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2024.