A news outlet Kansas City Star has reported that the Kansas City Ford Motor Co., will spend $100 million to upgrade its Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri. The upgrade is essential for the facility to build Ford’s new E-Transit van. It will create an additional 150 full-time jobs at the factory. The Claycomo plant is currently the largest manufacturing center in the KC area with 7,250 workers. The article from the publication said the plant also produces more vehicles than any other Ford factory on the continent. It should be late 2021 when the vehicle hits the market with an announcement of the new E-Transit van on Thursday, 19th November. This isn’t a surprise for those in the automotive industry seeing that this electric vehicle’s production isn’t a new venture in Ford’s effort to transition their popular vehicles to electric.
The President of Ford’s Americas and international markets group, Kumar Galhotra said, “We’re taking our most iconic vehicles and using fully electric technology to deliver even more performance, productivity, and capability for customers”. There are currently 2 electric vehicles in production in the United States and Mexico. An all-electric F-150 is in production in Michigan and in Mexico, and workers are putting together the new electric Mustang Mach-E. Their vehicles are made at the Claycomo plant for a lot of Ford F-150 truck owners in the Midwest. The Kansas City area is also the home of two other major automakers. On the Kansas side of the metro area, General Motors has a presence. The Cadillac XT4 crossover SUV and Chevy Malibu sedan are built at the Fairfax Plant.
Gasoline prices have been relatively reasonable as of late, but it wasn’t long ago that Americans were trading in their H2 Hummers to prevent paying exorbitantly high gas prices. But the American consumers find themselves inextricably linked to a complex global commodity for nearly every mile driven, that can have a major impact on the cost of cruising: fuel. Point to be noted that Arab oil manufacturers banned exports to the U.S during the Arab-Israeli War in 1973 due to their support of Israel, leading to a gas shortage and sky-high prices. The recent stay-at-home orders amidst the COVID-19 pandemic caused oil prices to crater as demand for oil bottomed out.
