Ford to transfer workers, spend $60 million, hire 100 to blunt Novelis fire impact

Ford Motor Company announced October 23 it would shift production to meet demand for its gas-powered and hybrid F-series trucks by transferring workers and hiring about 100 as it seeks to stabilize after a fire at its main aluminum supplier.

According to a statement, assembly of the F-150 Lightning is and will remain paused as a result of the reassignments. The electric truck is less profitable for Ford, the company said, and uses more aluminum.

To facilitate the production increase, Ford says it will transfer all hourly employees at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center next door to form a third shift of 1,200 workers at Dearborn Truck Plant, add 90 workers at its Dearborn Stamping Plant and 80 employees at its Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing Plan, and hire 100 new workers at its Kentucky Truck plant. The Kentucky Truck Plant will also receive $60 million in extra investment for training as the company looks to scale production there by one extra job per hour, or 5,000 extra trucks annually.

In a statement, Ford COO Kumar Galhotra said the company was moving to meet demand and would work with its other suppliers to do so.

In a quarterly earnings report released the same day, Ford CEO Jim Farley said the company was working to reduce the economic toll of the Novelis fire.

What people are saying

“The people who keep our country running depend on America’s most popular vehicle – F-Series trucks — and we are mobilizing our team to meet that demand,” said Ford COO Kumar Galhotra. “As America’s leading auto producer, we will work with the UAW and our suppliers to quickly increase output at our F-Series plants in Michigan and Kentucky.”

“The Ford team, including myself, have been onsite at the Novelis plant in Oswego, New York,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley. “We are working intensively with Novelis and others to source aluminum that can be processed in the cold rolling section of the plant that remains operational while also working to restore overall plant production. We have made substantial progress in a short time to minimize the impact in 2025 and recover production in 2026.”

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