Ford announces $5 billion investment in US, ‘change in the assembly line’ after 120 years

An end to EV mandates isn’t stopping Ford from advancing plans to “change the assembly line” after more than 120 years with a $5 billion domestic investment.

(Video Credit: Fox Business)

Aiming to revolutionize the auto industry once again, the Ford Motor Company unveiled how its lasted investment in Kentucky and Michigan would start with the production of an “affordable” all-electric pickup truck. Monday, President and CEO Jim Farley joined Fox Business’s Ashley Webster, where he detailed the aims of the company’s new Ford Universal EV Production System.

“After 120 years, we’re gonna change the assembly line,” Farley said during his appearance on “Varney & Co.” as a press release offered details on the forthcoming Universal EV Platform that would shift gears from a line to a “tree.” “We’re gonna build it in three pieces, three separate parts, not one vehicle along one line. And that allows us to build it 40% faster with a lot less people and a lot less cost.”

The new manufacturing process that would see cobalt- and nickel-free lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic batteries designed to make up the vehicles’ floors would be made possible via a $5 billion investment in the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky and BlueOval Battery Park in Michigan with the aim of bringing an electric pickup truck to the market in 2027 at a starting price of $30,000.

The new @Ford Universal EV Production System will transform the traditional assembly line & enable a whole new generation of affordable electric vehicles. Excited for the world to see what this platform & new manufacturing system can do! https://t.co/1wFc2QOwi3 pic.twitter.com/qyxtJFTiQr

— Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) August 11, 2025

“It’ll be a lot more affordable and — a lot lesser cost than an old Tesla even, or a RAV4 hybrid imported. So we’re excited about this affordable vehicle,” said Farley.

Previously, during the second-quarter 2025 earnings call at the end of July, the CEO expressed his enthusiasm to analysts that President Donald Trump had undone former President Joe Biden’s rules that had set the stage for Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to attempt to impose a national EV mandate.

“This is a multibillion-dollar opportunity over the next couple of years,” he said as Trump’s efforts removed forced focus on the electric vehicle market.

Despite the freedom to conduct business without onerous green agenda mandates at play, Farley insisted on selling less popular EVs as a “really good solution” for commuters.

“Ford is the number one truck hybrid maker in the U.S., best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 47 years. The F-150 comes in a hybrid. It’s almost 30% of our customers,” he said of the popular compromise to all-gas or all-electric. “But for people that just commute — and they could charge at home, they don’t have to depend on chargers on the road, they only go 100 miles, 200 miles a day — an EV is actually really cheap … an EV can be a really good solution.”

Ultimately, Farley suggested the innovation for a new kind of assembly system stemmed from the president’s efforts to restore domestic manufacturing, as he explained, “We didn’t want to build this in South Korea or Japan. We had to take a completely radical approach to redesign the vehicle to make it affordable and profitable here in Kentucky.”