Ford Motor to retool and transform Oakville plant to EV hub

Ford Motor Company is investing CAD1.8 billion (USD1.35 billion) to transform its Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Assembly Complex into a Canadian hub of electric vehicle  (EV) manufacturing. The site transformation is key to Ford’s plan to reach a global production run rate of 2 million EVs annually by the end of 2026 and will include vehicle and battery pack assembly.

The new campus, which will be renamed the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will be a high-volume manufacturing hub for North American EV production, repurposing existing buildings into a state-of-the-art facility. Ford will begin to retool and transform the Oakville complex in the second quarter of 2024 to prepare for production of next-generation electric vehicles beginning in 2025.

“Canada and the Oakville complex will play a vital role in our Ford+ transformation. It will be a modern, super-efficient, vertically integrated site for battery and vehicle assembly. I’m most excited for the world to see the incredible next-generation electric and fully digitally connected vehicles produced in Oakville,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO.

Ford is taking a diverse strategic approach to transforming its industrial system to expand EV production: building new greenfield sites and also transforming existing manufacturing sites like in Oakville, Canada, and Cologne, Germany.   

“Ford of Canada has been a leader in the country’s auto industry since it was founded 119 years ago, driven by hard-working, dedicated employees,” said Bev Goodman, president and CEO, Ford of Canada. “As the top-selling auto brand in Canada for 14 straight years, the successful transition to EV production in Oakville will help deliver stable Canadian employment with the opportunity to build the new skills and expertise to drive Ford and the industry forward.”

The current 487-acre Oakville site includes three body shops, one paint building, one assembly building. The transformed campus will feature a new 407,000 square-foot on-site battery plant that will utilise cells and arrays from BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky. Oakville workers will take these components and assemble battery packs that will then be installed in vehicles assembled on-site.

“Ford’s transformation from gas to electric vehicles is well underway. Once complete, the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex will secure thousands of well-paying jobs for our hard-working Canadian auto workers and boost the competitiveness of Canada’s auto sector. The partnership between Ford and Canada helps to position us as a global leader in the EV supply chain for decades to come,” said François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada.