* Ford in 2014 will launch the most vehicles globally in a single year than in more than a century
* To support its aggressive growth strategy, Ford is set to open two manufacturing facilities in Asia Pacific and one in South America
* Ford to add more than 5,000 new U.S. jobs — including 3,300 salaried positions — in 2014 on top of more than 14,000 new hires in the past two years to support its growth momentum
This is the kind of news that could change the “bad track record” that George Erickcek, a senior economist at the W. E. Upjohn Institute in Kalamazoo pointed out during The Right Place Inc.’s Economic Outlook event, December 12,2013 in Grand Rapids.
He said manufacturers are having trouble getting young people to work in Michigan’s factories because so any jobs have been lost since 2000.
Now comes the news that Ford Motor Company is hiring thousands of people worldwide.
Of course this is happening because Ford believes it has A Better Idea, or maybe I should write, 23 Better Ideas.
Ford next year will launch 23 new vehicles to customers around the world, open three more manufacturing facilities and add more than 5,000 new jobs in the United States to meet growing demand for its products.
“We are embarking on our most ambitious global launch year ever to meet customer demand for our products around the world,” said Raj Nair, group vice president, Ford global product development.
Ford expects its global launches next year to more than double those of 2013.
Ford Motor Company expects its product momentum to intensify in 2014 with 16 new vehicle launches in North America, including Lincoln. These new vehicles include Ford Mustang, Ford Transit Connect, Ford Transit and Lincoln MKC. In all, Ford expects to have about three times the number of product launches next year in North America than in 2013.
“We saw unprecedented growth in the United States this year, especially in the midsize and utility segments,” said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of The Americas. “With the addition of 16 new products to our showroom, including Ford Mustang, our momentum continues.”
Production of the all-new Transit will begin in second-quarter 2014 at Ford’s newly retooled Kansas City Assembly Plant. Ford is investing $1.1 billion to retool and expand the facility.
Kansas City Assembly Plant will add more than 2,000 jobs – more than 1,000 of which are new hires – to support high demand for Ford F-150 plus production of the all-new Transit family of commercial vehicles starting next summer.
To support the new products, Ford will open three new manufacturing facilities – two of them in Asia Pacific and one in South America.
Next year, Ford is on track to open its Changan Ford Assembly Plant No. 3 and Changan Transmission Plant in Chongqing, China, as well as Camaçari Engine Plant in Brazil. The new Chongqing Assembly Plant will increase the company’s production capacity in China by 300,000 units next year.
“This is the fastest and most aggressive manufacturing expansion the company has undergone in 50 years,” said John Fleming, executive vice president, Ford global manufacturing. “The last time Ford was growing like this, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the U.S. president.”
To fuel this growth, Ford plans to hire more than 6,000 employees in Asia next year, the vast majority of them hourly employees. Similarly, in the United States, Ford expects to create more than 5,000 new jobs, including 3,300 salaried positions, the largest hiring initiative since 2000.
In the past two years, the company has created more than 14,000 jobs in North America alone.
More than 80 percent of the new salaried jobs will be technical professionals who work in product development, manufacturing, quality and IT.
Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance is a five-part ebook series that explores the collapse and rebirth of manufacturing in Michigan. The series is available wherever ebooks are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes
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