LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Ford Motor Co. is planning to produce an “all new” electric vehicle at Louisville Assembly Plant once the gas-powered Escape SUV reaches the end of its life cycle in 2025, according to a source familiar with the company’s plans.
The addition of an EV at Louisville Assembly in 2026 is among the plant-by-plant “product commitments” Ford made to the union in the tentative four-year labor contract that the parties reached Wednesday, the source said.
The UAW-Ford contracts typically include company commitments to bring new products and upgrade plants. The union prizes those commitments because they provide job security.
"The Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair remain important parts of our lineup and we are not going to comment on future product speculation," a Ford spokesman said in a statement that was submitted the day following publication of this story. Ford had not responded to pre-publication requests from comment.
A spokesman for the UAW did not respond to a request for comment.
Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862, the local that represents the 3,200 hourly workers at LAP, said Thursday he wasn’t aware of the specific product committed to the plant, but he said all of Ford’s North American plants will receive commitments through the contract.
UAW Local 862 President Todd Dunn addresses reporters at the Kentucky Truck Plant union hall on Oct. 26, 2023
Dunn noted that LAP is the closest Ford plant to the massive BlueOval SK EV battery plants being built in Hardin County, Ky. Those plants will supply batteries for Ford EVs.
And recently, Ford seems to have been sizing up LAP for an overhaul, he said.
“They've measured the plant. They’ve reviewed the plant. They've audited the plant. Obviously, those are all key indicators of preparing for the next model,” Dunn said. “… They know what they're going to build now, three years from now. They’re starting to work on design and all that.”
The EV commitment is a win for LAP considering Ford had no plan for the Escape beyond the 2025 model year, the source said.
Last year, Ford CEO Jim Farley cast doubt on the future of the Escape, saying in June 2022, “We’re not going to have commodity products like Edges and Escapes.”
The hope is that the “all new” EV — Ford hasn’t been any more specific about the model — is the first of several EVs that could bring the plant back to a three-shift operation for the first time since 2017, the heyday of the Escape, the source said.
Ford’s sales figures show the Escape was once a much bigger part of the automaker’s portfolio than it is today. Some of the vehicle’s decline is explained by Ford’s decision to reintroduce its similarly sized Bronco and Bronco Sport in 2020, analysts have said.
When sales of the Escape peaked along with the overall industry in 2017, the compact SUV accounted for 12% of Ford’s U.S. volume. Through the first three quarters of 2023, the Escape accounted for 6.8% of Ford’s volume, according to a WDRB analysis of company statistics.
Ford is aiming for an expansive set of EVs in the coming years, while the company has backed off the pace of initial plans amid uncertainty about market demand.
The company has yet to announce a fully electric version of a crossover vehicle like the Escape. The company’s current EV lineup includes its F-150 Lightning pickup truck, the E-Transit work van and the Mustang Mach-E, a higher-priced Tesla competitor.
When visiting Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville in May, Farley was vague when asked about the long-term plan for Louisville Assembly Plant.
“We want their (LAP employees’) work to be building a vehicle that we’re deeply passionate about, where the customers can’t imagine their life without it,” he said at the time. “And we have opportunity in the two-row crossover market to do that. So, I think they should be really excited about their future.”
