11:45 AM EDT, 07/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Ford Motor ( F ) said Thursday it plans to expand production of its F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks with a roughly $3 billion investment at a Canadian facility.

The automaker aims to assemble Super Duty at the Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, Canada, with production scheduled to start in 2026. The move is expected to add up to 100,000 units of Super Duty trucks at the facility as the company seeks to expand production beyond its Kentucky and Ohio plants, which are operating at full capacity.

The expansion supports "Ford's electrification plans," it said in a statement.

"Super Duty is a vital tool for businesses and people around the world and, even with our Kentucky truck plant and Ohio assembly plant running flat out, we can't meet the demand," Chief Executive Jim Farley said in a statement. The Kentucky and Ohio facilities produced more than 200,000 Super Duty trucks in the first half of this year, according to Ford.

Last year, Ford announced a plan to transform the Oakville facility into a "hub" of EV production in Canada. In April this year, it delayed the launch of its new three-row EV to 2027 from 2025.

Ford said Thursday it remains committed to developing a growing and profitable electric-vehicle business, including the introduction of three-row electric utility vehicles.

As part of its new plan, the company will spend about $2.3 billion to install assembly and integrated stamping operations at the Oakville facility. It is anticipated to initially create roughly 1,800 jobs at the plant and 150 jobs at the company's Windsor engine complex in Ontario, which will manufacture more V8 engines for the Super Duty vehicles.

"There is durable demand for Super Duty from Ford Pro customers as spending on infrastructure and related construction activity remains high," according to Ford Pro CEO Ted Cannis. "Many retail customers have not been able to get their trucks fast enough because of our production constraints."

The automaker expects to create a total of 70 new jobs at its Rawsonville components and Sterling axle plants in Michigan. It will invest $24 million in the Ohio transmission facility and $1 million in the Michigan components plant.

"This investment will benefit Ford, our employees in Canada and the US," Chief Operating Officer Kumar Galhotra said. "It is fully consistent with our Ford+ plan for profitable growth, as we take steps to maximize our global manufacturing footprint, and our investments will have a fast payback."

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