Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)’s Fusion sedan and F-Series pickup sales are rising faster than expected. So the automaker has decided to boost its North American manufacturing capacity by 200,000 units to meet consumer demand. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company said it will also reduce the summer shutdown at most of its plants from two weeks to one week. That alone will increase the capacity by 40,000.
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) didn’t disclose its present North American production capacity, but it produced 2.8 million vehicles last year, reports the Wall Street Journal. The second largest U.S. automaker recently announced to hire 2000 workers at its Kansas City plant by adding a third shift. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) said it will also add a new shift of employees at its assembly plant near Detroit to produce Fusion and Mustang.
The latest expansion announcement comes after the company increased its U.S. capacity by 400,000 units last year. With this, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) will have increased its capacity by 600,000 units within just two years. It will bring Ford’s total production capacity in North America region to 3.4 million, according to Bloomberg. In February, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) also announced to increase production and add 450 new jobs at its Ohio plant.
Ford Outpaces Competitors In Recovery
About ten years ago, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) had 20 assembly plants in the region, but now they have only 11 plants. During the financial crisis, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) CEO Alan Mulally reduced production to a 27-year low of 1.86 million to match production with demand. The company had to fight unions. But now most of the plants are running at more than their standard full capacity as the company continues to add back production.
Amid recovery in the U.S. auto market, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has outpaced competitors. In April, Ford Motor sales jumped 13 percent compared to the same period previous year, boosting the company’s market share to 16.3 percent, according to Autodata. The North American unit of Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) reported a profit of $2.4 billion in the first quarter this year, after earning a record $8.34 billion in the last fiscal year.
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) shares were up 1.61 percent to $15.19 at 9:42 AM EDT.
