Gov. Beshear Congratulates United Auto Workers, Ford Leaders on Plans To Bring New EV Product to Louisville Assembly Plant

New investments are planned at both the Louisville Assembly Plant and Kentucky Truck Plant

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 29, 2023) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear congratulated United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford Motor Co. leaders on plans to bring a new electric vehicle (EV) product to the Louisville Assembly Plant.

UAW representatives said the Louisville Assembly Plant, through tentative negotiations, is expected to see new investments, including an EV product, and the current Escape and Corsair models will also continue through their planned product life cycle. The Kentucky Truck Plant also will benefit from new investments and will continue to produce the F-Series Super Duty as well as the Expedition and Navigator, including hybrid EV models. UAW workers are also expected to see pay increases and cost-of-living adjustments.

This news follows reports that the current Escape SUV was set to reach the end of its life cycle in 2025 and many speculated about the plant’s future.

“This is great news for our hard-working UAW families and for Kentucky,” Gov. Beshear said. “We are pleased to see Ford continue its longstanding commitment to our workers and our future. We are continuing to build that better Kentucky we all want.”

Last week, Gov. Beshear also applauded the agreement Ford reached with the UAW that reopened the Kentucky Truck Plant.

In May of this year, Ford and more than 8,500 UAW workers announced they would assemble at the Kentucky Truck Plant the all-new 2023 Ford F-Series Super Duty, which Ford is now delivering in all trim levels to retail and commercial customers. This was one of the largest investments in Jefferson County’s history.

In September 2022, Gov. Beshear announced that Ford Motor Co., which has produced motor vehicles in the commonwealth for 109 years and is the largest vehicle producer in the Bluegrass State, would expand its presence in Louisville as the company prepared to produce the all-new Ford F-Series Super Duty Truck. At the time, Gov. Beshear proclaimed “KenTRUCKy Day” in the commonwealth in honor of Ford’s investment and helped reveal the all-new F-Series Super Duty Truck at Churchill Downs.

In September 2021, Gov. Beshear and leaders from Ford Motor Co. and SK On celebrated a transformative $5.8 billion investment that is creating 5,000 jobs in Hardin County. The announcement helped position Kentucky as the EV battery production capital of the United States and is the single largest economic development project in the history of the commonwealth.

BlueOval SK remains committed to both plants, and construction is on schedule and unchanged. The first plant will open and operate in 2025. The second plant is not scheduled to operate until 2026. Last week, BlueOval SK officials said they are evaluating the operations schedule with the second plant but remain fully committed to its future.