Ford is ramping up production of motor homes and commercial chassis by 35% to meet the demand for recreational vehicles. The company has experienced a 14% year-on-year (y/y) surge in the sale of Class A motor homes which are built on a stripped truck chassis, reports The Detroit News citing data from Recreational Vehicle Industry Association.
Also, Ford has added a third shift at its Van Dyke Transmission plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan (US) and created 80 new jobs. These automatic transmissions will be used in Fusion and Escape models, respectively.
Significance: The investment at Van Dyke plant is part of Ford’s plan to infuse USD220m together with its suppliers at the plant. The investment was directed towards production of H35 hybrid transmission and other fuel-efficient transmissions at the facility and involved installing new equipment, engineering and manufacturing cost and tooling upgrades. In December last year, Ford decided to invest USD773m at six manufacturing sites in Michigan, US. At the time, the company planned to pour in USD87.7m at its Van Dyke Transmission facility for machinery and equipment to meet demand for the automaker's 6F35 and 6F50 transmissions.
