With Ford investing heavily in electrification and eager to trim slower-selling, less profitable models from its lineup, the future for many employed by the company is a bit murky. As Ford Authority reported last June, CEO Jim Farley indirectly stated that the Ford Escape may be facing cancellation, for example, and earlier this month, also said that the automaker won’t be in the business of selling ICE-powered two-row crossovers in the future – though the Escape may live on as an EV. Regardless, there are plenty of reasons why employees at the Ford Louisville Assembly plant may be concerned about what the future holds for them, accordion to WDRB News.
“The focus right now is on Louisville Assembly Plant, making sure that we have product there and in every assembly plant in North America,” said Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862, the chapter representing workers at LAP and the Ford Kentucky Truck plant. “There is no other option than keeping that plant open.” Thus, the union is working to secure commitments from The Blue Oval in terms of future production at the Ford Louisville Assembly plant, in an effort to “protect what we have,” according to Dunn.
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks as production at the Louisville plant is paused due to a software issue with the refreshed 2023 Ford Escape that is no fault of the workers there, as Ford Authority reported earlier this week. Regardless, UAW officials note that there’s no reason for concern. “I’ve seen a lot of people getting on Facebook and talking doom and gloom, and this being bad for the plant – ‘It doesn’t look good for the plant; we’re failing at our launch,'” said Brandon Reisinger, UAW 862’s building chairman. “That couldn’t be any farther from the truth. The units that we have ran have all been actually above expectation as far as our quality and our first-time through. And as far as our plant goes, we’re doing the things that we need to do.”
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Escape sales have declined for five consecutive years, though some of this was expected following the debut of the Ford Bronco Sport, while the Ford Maverick is also believed to be leeching some sales from the crossover. Regardless, the Escape still accounted for seven percent of the automaker’s total sales in 2022, and plays an important role in the lineup as an inexpensive, entry-level crossover. However, if Ford does indeed decide to discontinue or electrify the Escape, the future of the Louisville plant could be in question.
We’ll have more on this and all of Ford’s assembly plants soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
When they build lousy vehicles with no regard for customer appeasement, they get what they deserve.
Unfortunately, Ford will be passing what Ford and Ford-management deserve onto the assembly line workers. It’s not the assembly line workers fault the designs, and parts and material qualities are terrible.
The assembly line workers are stuck assembling the garbage Ford/Management provides.
Partly true but also unfairly negative.
The true: The plant is at the tail of the process and is subject to all the good or bad that is done upstream of it. (As I indicated in my comment below.)
The “deserve” comment makes no sense but maybe it’s a result of inartful sentence construction.
The customer doesn’t care about that. They want their vehicles to work as prescribed after they spent hard earned money.
Really Crabby? Try to be better.
Perhaps I’m too broad brush. But somethings wrong somewhere along the line.
I’ve purchased new a ’95 Ranger (sold it with 350K miles and it ran the same as the day I took it home), a ’03 Ranger FX4, ’06 F150 Lariat, ’12 Mustang GT, ’16 Edge, ’20 F150 Lariat, and ’22 Explorer. I’ve taken them in the the dealer for several recalls (remember Takata Airbags?), but I’ve never experienced ANY of the problems that created the recalls, or any other problems. None of them has ever got my wife or I stranded. I absolutely love my Edge, it is the quietest car I’ve ever owned. BTW, it has 2.0 L ecoboost, and I’ve never added a drop of coolant to it since the day I bought it. My ’20 F150 with 5.0 L is awesome, and unlike my neighbor with his diesel Silverado, it is solid and rides great. The 10 spd transmission is the weak point, but my Explorer also has a 10 spd and it shifts very smoothly. I will continue to buy Ford products until they give me reason not to, but that hasn’t happened. Time will tell.
My Sentiments exactly 💯
Ok troller. That’s definitely not the case.
A vehicle software fail at launch is very unlike to be the fault of a plant.
Yes, a plant might fail to reflash the s/w of a given unit(s) but a s/w issue that results in extended downtime is likely to be due to plant external factors.
It’s my understanding that Ford plans to build a pair of affordable EVs at this plant around 2028, a small utility and pickup. Alternatively they could move many of the workers to the Kentucky Truck Plant as they have been doing. Although it’s a state away, Blue Oval City needs staffing and could absorb anybody willing to commute or move should the plant go into mothballs.
I have a 2019 escape s feels safe , good on fuel ,nice ride , quiet engine, , and it american built, I am a happy customer, .
They are excellent vehicles. These comments are foolish an show the ignorance of social media.
If they close Louisville where will they build the popular Corsair??
Turn the plant into another Super Duty assembly plant ! Order books for these trucks are through the roof . Am a fleet buyer , and have been told can only order 5 trucks per quarter , and that is a maybe ! Have F-250’s with over 200 K , and cannot get replacements .
Farley needs to live up to his statements that he made in Louisville about the Super Duty being made for work ! If so , then quit spending millions on the EV craze and give customers what they want , and EV’s are not it !
Look at your order banks Farley , and quit sucking up to the government for money and press !
Sock puppet detected.
Starts out sounding like any SD customer but veers heavily toward anti-EV rhetoric painting a one or the other false choice between SD and BEV.
Of course Big Oil’s Trolls try to create this false choice because their future profit stream depends on as many liquid fuel vehicles being sold now as possible.
Hopefully you got your trucks. 💯 The EV thing is a govt mandate no automaker wants this.
I agree…I own a 2015 Escape titanium 4×4 a great ride 60 000 miles no problems..no plans to upgrade….excellent in the snow
Need reasons to keep Louisville assembly plant open???
– Louisville is home of FoMoCo truck mfg.
– LAP has made F-series pickups in the past.
– Huge battery mfg. plant being built down the road in Elizabethtown.
– Ford Maverick Hybrid, only built in Mexico, can’t keep up with demand.
Come on FoMoCo, seems like a no-brainer to me.
I think the Blue Oval City battery complex is a pretty good indicator LAP will have a future.
Fords just keeping its powder dry so it can have a splashy announcement once prototypes are available for an announcement. (The styling of the next generation of Ford vehicles will be significantly different than previous generations so holding off on announcements to keep styling confidential as long as possible is likely what’s in play here.)
Ford escape sales down. I ordered one over a year ago, had to convert to a 2023. That vehicle is still not built yet! That could have been one more sold unit for 2022. If you can build them, I’m sure you could sell more. Maybe Ford should work on the real problem, the supply chain issues.
Have you missed all the reports over the last two years about how everybody is struggling with supply chain? (And everybody is working to solve supply chain?)
how about making Mavericks there, they have the base setup to cut the back orders !!!!
I’m of the opinion that Ford won’t be committing capital to expand ICE Mav production.
It is more likely that we will see BEV Maverick added to the range before we see a second ICE plant.
My wife drives a 2020 Escape Hybrid. Nice vehicle for her. A bit too small for me. I have zero interest in SUVs and since Ford no longer makes a sedan my next vehicle will either be a Chevy Malibu or a Chrysler of some type. Thanks again for nothing Ford.
The CHEVROLET MALIBU is a nice car. I rented one for a couple weeks after my ‘21 NISSAN ALTIMA was rear ended and totaled. I bought a ‘23 ALTIMA once I got the settlement. I would have bought a new MALIBU if I couldn’t have found a new ALTIMA pretty much identical to my destroyed ‘21. But I found the ALTIMA to be just an all around better built car. Plus the standard engine has better highway power in spite of being non turbo.
I think Farley should be fired. The amount of recalls is atrocious! I used to be a big Ford fan., not anymore. The recalls reflect directly on the CEO. I also think that Ford should continue to make some gasoline vehicles along with electrified ones. I’m not sure if I ever want an electric vehicle.
So this is an article about future production at LAP and you bring up recalls?
Ford has literally set up two divisions, one for EV and one for non EV, how much more do you need to see that Ford will produce done ice vehicles for quite a while yet?
What vehicles is Ford going to offer soon? They’re going to stop making the eco sport, edge, and possibly escape. What is up with that?
Capital Ford in Carson city Nv. Sold me a 2021 F350 king ranch $72,000 out the the door so i was told . NOT SO ! After paying on it for a year and a half . My friend Rick ( a math teacher ) explained to me . I had been charged well over $80,000. Is there anyone at Ford head quarters , that monitors this dealership unethical behavior ? Is this behavior ok with Ford executives ? I would like a reply from a ford and deal with the scumbags at Capital Ford .
Are you talking about interest charges in a vehicle finance package?
I just used an online calculator to figure interest in a vehicle loan and with a couple scenarios with rough figures like longer/shorter term or bigger/smaller down payment or trade in, for a 71k$ vehicle, it’s easy to have interest payments that reach near 10k$.
If Finance isn’t your bag, you as a small business owner (with a really nice professional web site btw) probably have a tax guy who could explain this to you. He could explain the best way to finance or pay cash and how to find the best deduction.
Never count on a car sales guy yo go that, that’s not their job, theirs is to sell cars at the biggest profit yo the dealer.
Good luck!
I was also told by salesman Joe A at capital Ford in Carson city Nv. that i got the last Costco special . FYI I buy a new truck every 2 to 3 years . I just ordered a new F350 King Ranch from Fallon auto mall in Fallon Nv. Price $107,000 out the door . Ok thats a little steep , but i dont mind paying for something i want as long as everybody is above board . Would like a reply from a Ford executive that will do something .
I think you will be happy when Ford moves to no haggle online ordering.
Then there will be no risk of some sales guy telling you tales.
I will never buy a car again that is assembled in Kentucky. I had 3 other escapes without a problem, got the one I have now and it’s junk. I have always owned a Ford, never a single problem with any of them until I got the one assembled in Kentucky
Bering went out, axle broke, brakes had to be replaced with only a few hundred miles on them. It’s a lemon.
LoL this sounds suspicious but even if it isn’t, none of those sound like final assy plant related issues.
Those sound more like supplier quality related issues that could have. Topped up regardless of where the vehicle was put together.