The pickup segment this year is growing three times faster than the auto industry as a whole, and one domestic automaker is making a production adjustment to meet swelling demand.
Ford Motor Co. will announce today plans to invest $1.1 billion to retool and expand its Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri, and add more than 2,000 jobs to produce a new Transit commercial van and the F-150, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 36 consecutive years.
"Customer demand for today's F-150 is strong and continues growing, the truck segment is growing three times faster than the overall industry, the housing market is strengthening, and we are seeing growth in the U.S. economy," said Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of The Americas, in a statement.
This year, F-Series sales are up 19 percent, or 36,593 trucks, and the U.S. housing recovery is driving demand for more pickups. Of the 2,000 jobs, half will be new hires and 900 will comprise a new third shift, which will start in the third quarter this year.
Kansas City Assembly Plant is one of two plants — the other being the Dearborn Truck Plant — that produces F-150 pickups.