Ford supplier invests $790M to build 3 Tennessee plants

Dive Brief:

Automotive supplier Magna International is investing over $790 million to build three facilities in Tennessee, two of which will be part of Ford's BlueOval City supplier park, state officials announced on Thursday.
The three facilities will create approximately 1,300 new jobs: 1,050 at a battery enclosures facility and a new seating plant in Stanton, where the supplier park is located; and 250 at a stamping and assembly plant in Lawrenceburg.
The Stanton facilities will supply the $5.6 billion BlueOval City campus with battery enclosures, truck frames and seats for Ford’s second-generation electric truck efforts, nicknamed “Project T3.”

Dive Insight:

Magna is the first Ford supplier to be added to the automaker’s upcoming supplier park, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said in a statement.

“The $790 million investment from Magna will further shape the economic landscape of Lawrence and Haywood counties and strengthen the electric vehicle supply chain in Tennessee for years to come,” Stuart McWhorter, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, said in a statement.

One Stanton site will include an 800,000-square foot frame and battery enclosures facility, adding a production site to the supply chain as Magna already produces battery enclosures for Ford's electric F-150 in Ontario, Canada.

The second Stanton facility will span 140,000-square-feet and produce polyurethane foam, and assemble and sequence just-in-time complete seats.

Production at all three sites is expected to begin in 2025, in time for the automaker to begin production on its Project T3. Ford plans to produce 500,000 EV pickup trucks yearly at its BlueOval City metaplant.

Ford has been making big investments over the past year to facilitate future EV production. In addition to the upcoming metaplant in Tennessee, Ford is also building a $3.5 billion EV plant in Marshall, Michigan, and is investing $1.3 billion to transform its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, Canada, into an EV production facility.

Automakers have been building large EV campuses in the U.S. to meet the rising demand, and bringing their supplier facilities with them. Hyundai is building a $5.5 EV metacampus in Ellabell, Georgia, as well as a $4.3 billion battery cell plant with LG Energy nearby. Honda is also retooling three of its existing Ohio plants to produce EVs, and adding a $3.5 billion battery plant with LG Energy nearby.