Ford Motor Company is once again splashing its cash, as it pledges to invest US$3.7 billion ($A5.09 billion) in manufacturing in the US.
The announcement includes confirmation Ford will be building the seventh-generation Mustang, codenamed S650, at its Flat Rock assembly plant in Michigan.
Up until this point, Ford hadn’t actually announced its plans to produce the upcoming S650-generation Mustang.
Although Ford stopped short of mentioning when the new Mustang will be revealed or go into production, we’ve previously seen the front end of a few models thanks to leaked images from Mustang7G.
It’s unclear what will be under the bonnet of the next-generation Mustang at this stage but Ford currently offers the option of a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder and a 5.0-litre naturally-aspirated V8.
Ford could also be working on some electrified versions of these engines as well.
Automotive News previously reported a hybrid model is slated for 2025, though it’s unclear if this will be a series or plug-in hybrid, nor what engine it’ll be mated to.
Ford Authority reports regardless of hybrid type, the S650-generation Ford Mustang won’t be available with all-wheel drive according to unnamed sources.
The S650 will reportedly have an eight-year lifecycle which is roughly the same as the previous two Mustang generations.
The platform reportedly isn’t set to change much compared to the current S550-generation, which entered production in 2014.
The second key take away from this $A5 billion investment is Ford announced it will be producing the new-generation Ranger ute for the North American market at its Michigan assembly plant in Wayne.
As previously detailed, Ford Australia once again led the global development program for the Ranger ute.
With testing across five continents, Ford claims the new Ranger has been subject to more physical and virtual testing than ever before.
One Ranger Raptor prototype in particular was used for a wide range of on- and off-road testing and racked up 150,000km of travel in just six months to ensure the twin-turbo petrol V6 powertrain was up to spec.
Historically, North American Ranger models have been produced in the US and Australian-bound Ranger models are produced by Ford Thailand.
The first shipment of Ranger utes have already started their journey Down Under. Ford Thailand Manufacturing recently held a send-off ceremony commemorating the first shipment.
The Blue Oval is advising the Ranger will arrive locally in July, with the Baja-ready Ranger Raptor following in August.
In total with this $A5 billion investment in US production, Ford will be creating more than 6200 new union jobs across three US states.
As previously detailed, with these extra jobs it’s hoped Ford will be able to reach its 150,000 annual production rate for the F-150 Lightning in 2023. There’s a total of 200,000 reservations already for the electric ute.
The Blue Oval also announced it will be assembling an “all-new” commercial electric vehicle (EV) in Ohio from mid-decade. Production plant expansion works for this are starting this year.
Ohio production plant expansion render
It’s unclear what this commercial EV will be, but it could potentially be a new-generation F-150 Lightning.
The US automaker is currently aiming to produce a total of 2 million EVs globally by the end of 2026.
This latest investment in US manufacturing follows a previous $A15.69 billion investment in EV production. The main highlight of this announcement was the Blue City Oval production hub which will be finished by 2025.
MORE: Ford spending $15.7 billion on new electric car production hubs in US
