(RTTNews) - Ford Motor Co. (F) announced its plan to build a new $1 billion state-of-the-art paint shop at Kentucky Truck Plant.
The new investment, which is aimed at growth in manufacturing, will replace the facility's existing paint shop. The move would further modernize the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, which is Ford's largest and highest revenue U.S. manufacturing plant, where a vehicle rolls off the assembly line every 45 seconds.
Groundbreaking of the plant is expected by late this year.
The automajor noted that Louisville Assembly Plant is currently undergoing installation of its new Universal EV Production System. The investment will support production of the Ford Fathom, a midsize electric pickup expected to launch in 2027.
The project would create or secure around 2,200 jobs in Louisville while transforming the facility into Ford's major advanced and flexible EV manufacturing plant.
According to Ford, its total economic impact in Kentucky exceeds $33 billion with vendors and suppliers. Ford is Kentucky's largest auto manufacturer with more than 11,500 employees.
The firm recently invested around $2 billion for the transformation of Louisville Assembly Plant into the new manufacturing center for Ford's new Universal Electric Vehicle Platform. Further, around $2 billion would be invested at Ford Energy Systems in Glendale, which will manufacture battery energy storage systems.
The company added that its $2 billion investment in the future of Ford Energy would convert the former battery manufacturing site in Glendale, Kentucky, into a large-scale producer of battery energy storage systems.
The investment is expected to create at least 2,100 new jobs and support annual production capacity of at least 20 gigawatt-hours of energy storage, with production beginning in late 2027.
In the overnight trading on the NYSE, Ford shares were trading at $13.93, up 0.36 percent.