Ford can’t keep up with demand for its EcoBoost V-6 and 3.7-liter V-6 engines. The automaker is adding a third shift to its Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1, a move that is expected to require 250 jobs mostly filled by former employees at Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2, which ends production this week.
“Our engine plant in Cleveland is the first and only facility in North America to produce EcoBoost engines, and we are tripling production capacity to meet customers’ growing needs for fuel-efficient engines,” said Mark Fields, president of The Americas, at the plant.
Ford reports that 180,000 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engines have been built at the plant since 2009 with 121,000 vehicles equipped with the engine sold in 2011 alone, after it became an option in the F-150. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine can be found in the Ford Taurus and Flex; and Lincoln MKS and MKT; while the 3.7-liter V-6 powers the Mustang and F-150. Calls to Ford to determine the number of 3.7-liter V-6 engines produced at the plant since 2009 were not immediately returned.
Most of the 250 new positions for the third shift will be filled by employees transferring from Cleveland Engine Plant No. 2, which built the 3.0-liter V-6 found in the last-generation Ford Escape and Fusion.
Later this month Ford will add another shift to the Kansas City Assembly Plant that builds F-150 pickups. Ford and Lincoln sales for April 2012 were down 5 percent, to 180,350 units.
