Ford To Begin Manufacturing Of Electric And Autonomous Cars In Michigan By 2023

Following the lead of other top automakers, Ford Motor Co. (F) in January 2018 announced plans to begin wider production of more electric and autonomous cars, pledging to increase its investment in an overhaul to $11 billion by 2022.

As part of its investment, Ford announced Wednesday that it will be repackaging a $900 million investment to build a new plant and refocus select factories in Michigan. The move will bring 900 jobs to the state.

The Flat Rock Assembly Plant will be the central location in the state for Ford’s electric car production starting in 2023. Roughly $850 million will be invested in electric car production, while the other $50 million will go towards autonomous cars.

Joe Hinrichs, President of global operations for Ford, on Wednesday spoke with CNBC about the investment.

"This facility will be about more than just putting the brains into these autonomous vehicles. We will use the AV production center to upgrade the interiors and add the technology customers will want for a particular self-driving model," Hinrichs said.

Ford is already on the growing list of car companies that are increasing investments in autonomous vehicles. However, while a company like Toyota invests in Uber to help produce an autonomous car, Ford is trying to stay in-house with Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC. While tech giants like Google have made strides in this space, there is still no firm idea as to when autonomous cars will be road ready or legal.

According to CNN, the Flat Rock plant was scheduled to lose second shifts in April and would shift around employees to other plants in the area. However, this announcement means that the plant will regain that second shift by 2023 along with any additional jobs from the investment.

The target year is also 2023 for the Flat Rock factory to begin production on the as of yet unannounced pure electric vehicle. It will also continue production of Mustang and Lincoln Continental cars it had been responsible for.