The automaker added 250 jobs in November for the third shift, bumping the plant's employment to 750 people.
Ford Motor Company announced on December 13 it added a third shift at its Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, citing “huge” demand for the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck.
The automaker said it added 250 jobs in November at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center to man the third shift, bumping the electric truck plant's employment from 500 to 750 people. The move comes as the company targets an annual production of 150,000 F-150 Lightning pickups by the fall of 2023.
During a tour of the facility, Corey Williams, plant manager of the Dearborn Truck Plant and Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, said Ford is on track to hit that previously announced production milestone, according to CNBC.
He added the plant is now running three rotating crews of workers on 10-hour shifts seven days a week to maintain a high level of production even as construction work is still underway to complete an expansion of the facility. "That's how we're doing this fast. We're building product while building" out the factory, Williams told CNBC.
Ford originally planned to build about 40,000 Lightnings per year in a new facility next to its longtime pickup factory in Detroit, but it decided to expand the plant to boost production after initial demand for the electric pickup exceeded its expectations.
This is further indication of a huge increase in the demand for lithium chemicals. It is also likely that sources of lithium will be limited to USA and those countries with a free trade agreement with USA, viz Australia.
