DETROIT — Vehicle production at the new $5.6 billion BlueOval City, initially expected to begin production in 2025, is being delayed.
The company said it still expects to begin battery cell production at the site in 2025.
“West Tennessee is a linchpin in our plan to create a strong and growing Ford in America,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. “BlueOval City will be one of the most advanced manufacturing complexes anywhere in the world, and we are counting on the workforce in West Tennessee to produce advanced batteries starting next year, and then our most innovative pickup ever starting in 2027.”
When it was announced the company had selected a site in Stanton in Haywood County, it would be hiring 6,000 individuals for careers at BlueOval City through an all-new talent development initiative coined BlueOval Learning.
Additionally, the company announced more than $20 million had been invested into West Tennessee since Ford announced BlueOval City in Sept. 2021.
According to published reports from NBC News, the changes are the latest for Ford and come amid slower-than-expected adoption of EVs as well as automakers not being able to profitably produce the vehicles.
Ford Motor is delaying production of a next-generation all-electric pickup truck at a new plant in Tennessee and canceling plans for a three-row electric SUV, the company said Wednesday.
Instead, Ford said it will prioritize the development of hybrid models, as well as electric commercial vehicles such as a new electric commercial van in 2026, followed by two EV pickup trucks in 2027.
The pickups are expected to be a full-size truck, which will be produced at the Tennessee plant that’s currently under construction in 2027, and a new midsize truck being developed by a specialized “skunkworks” team in California.
“As we’ve learned in the marketplace, and we’ve seen where people have gravitated, we’re going to focus in where we have competitive advantage, and that’s on commercial land trucks and SUVs,” Ford CFO John Lawler said Wednesday.
The actions are meant to better deliver a capital-efficient, profitable electric vehicle business, said Lawler, who also serves as vice chair of the automaker. But, in the short-term, they will cost the company.
Ford said it will incur a special non-cash charge of about $400 million for the write-down of certain product-specific manufacturing assets, including the cancellation of the three-row SUV.
The company said the changes may also result in additional expenses and cash expenditures of up to $1.5 billion. Ford will reflect those in the quarter in which they are incurred, as a special item.
Lawler said the company’s future capital expenditure plans will shift from spending about 40% on all-electric vehicles to spending 30%. He did not give a timeline for the change.
