Despite Ford Motor Company’s aggressive push into the electric vehicle market, the company has reassured Unifor officials it sees the internal combustion engines produced in its Windsor plants as an important product offering until 2040.
Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo met with Ford vice president of Americas manufacturing John Savona and vice president labour affairs Kevin Legel last week in Toronto for an update on the company’s plans for its Canadian operations.
“They’re still a long way from getting out of the combustion side when it comes to the trucks,” D’Agnolo said.
“They don’t see until 2040 before they get out of the combustion side of it.
“Right now, I looked at their plans for the next three years and it’s steady at both sites (Essex Engine, Annex Engine). I was quite happy with that.”
They recognize the quality and productivity of our workforce
D’Agnolo admitted he was a little anxious prior to the meeting. The company will begin production this month of the electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck with its yearly production quota already sold out.
Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo speaks during a press conference on Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Windsor. PHOTO BY DAN JANISSE /Windsor Star
However, Ford made clear it will continue to rely on its Windsor-built engines to power its most popular and most profitable products, including the F-series pickup trucks and the Mustang.
“They were quite positive,” D’Agnolo said. “That’s where they make their profits to invest into the battery electric vehicle side.
“Right now, those truck engines are their bread and butter and they’re not going to be making any changes whatsoever when it comes to that.”
D’Agnolo said the company confirmed demand for the Windsor-built 5.0-litre, 7.3-litre and the soon to be launched 6.8-litre engine remains strong.
He added he expects the transition to EV products will likely come more quickly than anticipated with the evolution of technology. The federal government has also set a 2035 deadline for all new car and light truck sales to be electric.
However, heavy duty pickup trucks will not fall under that federal ban.
“I don’t think they’ll be able to transition out of that (heavy duty trucks) too quickly,” D’Agnolo said.
“Anyone just driving a truck, like the F-150, maybe we’ll be looking at that differently.”
Ford team leader Rino Fanella works on the new, 7.3L V-8 engine at Ford Windsor Engine Plant Annex site Feb. 7, 2019. PHOTO BY NICK BRANCACCIO /Windsor Star
D’Agnolo also continued to lobby the company to prepare to place other products in Windsor when the time for combustion products comes to an end.
“I talked to them about the importance of that because we’re going to be one of the last to be producing on the combustion side,” D’Agnolo said.
“We can’t be forgotten because of that. They recognize the quality and productivity of our workforce.”
Of more concern to both the company and Unifor in the short term are the supply chain problems being experienced by all automakers.
The addition of the new 6.8-litre engine at Windsor’s Annex plant was supposed to create a third shift this fall, but hiring has been paused and the launch of the shift is unknown because of the microchip shortage.
“The third shift would be on if we had the chips,” said D’Agnolo, who added the industry is also plagued by logistic cost issues, a lack of truck drivers and other parts shortages to a degree its never experienced before.
“The problem is they can’t guarantee the chips to run a third shift. They didn’t give any indication or timeline when they’d be ready to go with the third shift.”
D’Agnolo said the 1,700 chips required for an electric F-150 Lightning are eight times the number in the current F-150.
Along with microchips, Ford is also going to need more battery plants to supply the five electric vehicles that will be produced at its sprawling Oakville complex.
Ford officials told D’Agnolo the transition of the plant to become a fully electric production facility is on schedule for late 2024 or early 2025.
“Obviously, they’re going to need more battery plants,” said D’Agnolo, who added company officials were tight-lipped on the subject.
“They’re well aware the federal and provincial governments recognize the importance of these programs and they (government) are now going out and chasing the business where once they waited for it.”
It has been confirmed by multiple sources Ford has studied southwestern Ontario as a possible site for a battery plant.
Keyword: Windsor engine plants still part of Ford's long-term plans