Ford is investing $1 billion in a new paint shop at its Kentucky truck plant

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The new paint shop will replace the existing facility at Kentucky Truck Plant, Ford's largest and highest-revenue U.S. manufacturing plant

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Ford $F Motor Company announced plans Thursday to build a new $1 billion paint shop at its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, replacing the facility's existing paint shop. The company said it expects to break ground later this year.

Kentucky Truck Plant is Ford's largest and highest-revenue U.S. manufacturing plant, producing F-Series Super Duty pickups, Ford Expedition SUVs, and Lincoln Navigator SUVs, the company said. A vehicle rolls off the assembly line there every 45 seconds. The upgraded paint shop is intended to deliver improved paint quality and efficiency alongside environmental sustainability gains.

The plant employs more than 11,500 workers. Ford said its total economic impact in Kentucky, including vendors and suppliers, exceeds $33 billion, citing a 2023 report by University of Louisville Professor Thomas Lambert. A separate 2020 study by Boston Consulting Group found that Ford contributes $11.7 billion annually to Kentucky's GDP and that nearly 120,000 people in the state are employed by Ford and its suppliers and dealers.

Thursday's announcement adds to a series of recent Kentucky investments by Ford. The company has committed approximately $2 billion to transform its Louisville Assembly Plant into a production center for its Universal Electric Vehicle Platform, including the Ford Fathom, a midsize electric pickup expected to launch in 2027. Ford has also pledged approximately $2 billion to Ford Energy Systems in Glendale, Kentucky, to manufacture battery energy storage systems, with production expected to begin in late 2027, the company said.

The investment comes days after a public dispute between Ford and the Trump administration over the automaker's ties to Chinese companies. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to Ford President and CEO Jim Farley on Tuesday accusing the company of "actively intertwining its future with Chinese state-backed enterprises." Farley denied each accusation, calling the letter's charges "basic misunderstandings, mistruths, whatever words you want to use."

The dispute exposed divisions within the administration. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised Ford's domestic investment record, and the White House's Rapid Response 47 account posted on X $TWTR that "Ford is a GREAT American company," even as Duffy's letter criticized the automaker's strategy.

In a statement cited by CNBC, Ford said Duffy's letter was "a wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines at the expense of a company that has done more for American manufacturing than virtually any other in the nation's history."

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