Magna supports Ford’s electric pickup production in Tennessee
Automotive supplier Magna International will invest 790 million dollars in three new facilities in the US state of Tennessee to support the production of Ford’s next electric pickup truck – including battery cases.
As reported, Ford plans to produce up to half a million next-generation all-electric pickup trucks at its BlueOval City plant in Tennessee from 2025. This is where Magna comes in with its investments now announced by the Tennessee government: Magna will thus set up two plants in BlueOval City’s supplier park to produce battery housings, vehicle frames and seats for Ford’s new electric pickup truck.
Magna will also build a new vehicle frame stamping and assembly plant in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. All three of Magna’s Tennessee plants are expected to be operational in 2025, according to the office of Bill Lee, the state’s Republican governor. Spread across the three plants, Magna will create about 1,300 new jobs in Tennessee, he said.
The two plants in BlueOval City will be of different sizes. The battery housing and vehicle frame manufacturing facility will cover just over 74,000 square metres (original specification: 800,000 square feet). The seat manufacturing facility is expected to cover 13,000 square metres (140,000 square feet).
Magna already operates a similar facility in Windsor, Canada, to manufacture battery cases for Ford-branded electric pickups. Windsor is located in the province of Ontario, but is separated from the US auto metropolis only by the Detroit River. The Ford F-150 Lightning is built at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, located next to Detroit.
According to information released in the spring, the electric pickup truck Ford plans to build in Tennessee will not be an electric version of a well-known model, as Ford has done with the F-150 Lightning. According to Ford, the model there is being developed under the code name T3 (for “Trust The Truck”), whereby it is supposed to be a “next-generation” electric pickup truck. Details and technical data are not yet known. Ford has not even confirmed the segment yet. But the T3 will be produced using novel manufacturing processes; Ford CEO Jim Farley spoke of “radical simplicity, cost efficiency and quality technology” in March.
“We welcome Magna as the first supplier for Ford’s BlueOval City and appreciate this company’s 790 million dollar investment in Tennessee, which will bring 1,300 jobs and new opportunities for families to thrive,” says Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. Magna chief sales and marketing officer Eric Wilds adds: “These opportunities not only strengthen our relationship with a valued customer, but also reflect the depth and breadth of our capabilities across the vehicle. We are thankful to the state of Tennessee for their support and partnership.”
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