Ford Motor Co., plans to share when its Oakville Assembly Complex will build its final internal combustion engine vehicle and begin its transition to battery-electric production by mid-April, according to the union that represents hourly workers at the Toronto area plant.
The shift to electric-vehicle production has been a long time coming for the Oakville plant, which currently builds the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus, and employs roughly 3,600. As part of an agreement with Unifor struck during the last round of bargaining with the company in 2020, Ford committed to spending $1.8 billion to retool the plant for EVs starting in 2024.
“They had a few outstanding details that has hindered their ability to confirm with enough certainty the start of the retooling period and duration,” he wrote to members in a memo posted to the local’s website.