One of the best selling vehicles of all-time will have a brand new, aluminum-centric design.
Ford announced today that it will add 850 workers to help build its new F-150 pickup truck.
More from the Associated Press:
The company says 500 of the workers will go to the Dearborn Truck plant, where the F-150 is assembled. Three hundred workers will go to the Dearborn Stamping plant and 50 workers will go to Dearborn Diversified, which makes axles and other parts. With the added hiring, Ford will have nearly 5,000 hourly workers at the complex near its Dearborn headquarters. Ford recently completed a $359 million renovation of the Dearborn Truck plant to prepare for its new aluminum-clad F-150, which is scheduled to go on sale by the end of this year.
You can find more information from the company's press release.
Michigan Radio's auto reporter Tracy Samilton has been following the changes Ford has made to its F-150, which is expected to launch in the coming weeks.
Samilton reported the company is taking a "calculated risk" to improve fuel efficiency:
Auto analyst Dave Sullivan of Autopacific says there is so much at stake here, and Ford must get this right. "I think the F-150 is….it’s America. The whole country runs on pickup trucks." Sullivan has no fears that the truck won’t be strong and reliable. But he says Ford has to avoid the multiple recalls that plagued the new Escape. And, the manufacturing process will be radically different. Instead of welds, workers will use rivets, and industrial adhesives. "This is going to present a whole new – a totally different way of assembling a vehicle than Ford has ever done," Sullivan says.
