Ford Adding 2,000 Jobs at Kansas City Plant

Ford is adding more than 2,000 jobs at its Kansas City, MO, assembly plant to support increasing demand for the F-150 pickup and planned production of the Transit fullsize commercial van.

F-150 sales through April were up 18.8% compared with year-ago to 55,474 units, according to WardsAuto data. Deliveries are expected to increase as the year progresses due to replacement demand and an uptick in the housing market.

In a conference call to discuss April sales, Ken Czubay, vice president-U.S. marketing, sales and service, addressed the potential F-150 capacity constraint and said Ford was monitoring the situation.

The auto maker will add 900 jobs and a third crew in the third-quarter for F-150 production, followed by an additional 1,100 positions in the fourth-quarter to prepare for Transit output, slated to start next year.

The Kansas City facility currently employs 2,450 hourly employees producing multiple versions of the F-150.

The auto maker previously announced it was investing $1.1 billion to retool and expand the facility for the F-150 and Transit, including a 437,000-sq.-ft. (40,598-sq.-m) stamping facility and a 78,000-sq.-ft. (7,246-sq.-m) paint shop.

The new stamping facility was completed last year, while the paint shop expansion is expected to be finished in Q3 2013.