American automaker Ford is increasing production of full—size pickups in response to growing demand and to restore production lost after a major fire at an aluminum plant in New York.
The automaker said it will increase production of its F-150 and Super Duty trucks by 50,000 vehicles in 2026, as well as additional jobs at truck manufacturing plants in Dearborn, Michigan and Kentucky.
The U.
S. automotive industry has faced supply problems after a major fire broke out at the Novelis aluminum roller plant in Oswego, New York, in mid—September, shutting down the entire plant for two weeks and the hot shop until the first quarter of 2026.
The Oswego plant is a major supplier of aluminum sheet for the automotive industry.
Ford will also suspend production of its less profitable F-150 Lightning pickup truck as it focuses on producing more profitable internal combustion engines and hybrid F-150s, which it says also require less aluminum to produce.
Ford employees who previously produced the electric F-150 will be relocated to Dearborn to increase production of the non-lightning F-150 by 45,000 units. Ford will increase the number of employees in Dearborn and its auxiliary plants by almost 1,400.
Ford plans to produce 5,000 more Super Duty pickups at its Kentucky truck manufacturing plant in 2026, adding another 100 or more people to its workforce.
The American steel company Steel Dynamics (SDI) announced that it has managed to produce and qualify some types of aluminum sheets at its new aluminum plant for the automotive industry. SDI continues to increase the capacity of its 650,000-ton-per-year aluminum plant located in Columbus, Mississippi.
Global automaker Stellantis, which owns American brands such as Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, said that due to an unspecified shortage of spare parts, its production has been declining, the Michigan sports utility vehicle plant, for three weeks.
