Ford’s Oakville Assembly site in Ontario, Canada could reportedly handle production of the electric variants of the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator.
The car manufacturer originally planned on producing the electric Explorer and Aviator at the same plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico that handles production of the Ford Mustang Mach-E. However, Ford has since decided to dedicate this entire facility to the Mach-E.
A report from Autonews Canada said that Ford has told suppliers to plan for a combined annual volume of approximately 100,000 examples of the electric Explorer and Aviator. It is understood that the Ohio Assembly and Flat Rock Assembly plants in Michigan are also in the running to produce the two SUVs and it could all come down to federal EV incentives, particularly those for unionized plants.
Read More: Ford Explorer And Lincoln Aviator EVs Reportedly Delayed Until Late 2024
“It may be yet to be decided because those incentives aren’t finalized,” principal analyst with HIS Markit, Stephanie Brinley, said. “But even those proposed incentives are still fundamentally short term, and this business will have to be able to survive without them. Ford is looking at where it can invest to build a car for longer than that.”
The Oakville site in Ontario currently builds the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus but these are tipped to be discontinued and the site will be retooled for EV production in 2024. Senior analyst with LMC Automotive, Katelyn Drake, says this site would be the best fit as it is already scheduled to use Ford’s next-generation EV architecture and would have the capacity to produce roughly 200,000 EVs a year.
It is understood that Ford won’t build the two vehicles alongside their ICE counterparts in Chicago because the plant is already near capacity and can’t be further expanded.
