The Ford Edge is staring at the edge of the abyss as Unifor Local 707 has revealed its death is right around the corner.
In a member update, Plant Chairperson Marc Brennan said the last Edge is scheduled to be built on April 26. This will mark the end of an era as the crossover was introduced at the 2006 North American International Auto Show and was a modest success.
The Blue Oval sold 130,125 units in the United States during its first full year of production and sales hovered around that mark for most of its life. However, sales dropped following the COVID-19 pandemic and the model is being put out to pasture, in North America, thanks to Ford’s electrification push.
Speaking of which, Brennan said details are still being hammered out on Oakville’s transition into an electric vehicle hub. This has been in the works for some time as Ford and Unifor reached an agreement to save the plant in 2020.
At the time, Unifor National President Jerry Dias said the agreement would see Ford invest $1.95 billion CAD ($1.45 billion USD) to build five new electric vehicles at the plant. The first was slated to arrive in 2025 with the last going into production in 2028.
More: Ford Transforming Canada’s Oakville Plant Into EV Manufacturing Hub
In 2023, Ford officially announced plans to transform the facility into the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex. The automaker revealed they would begin to retool and modernize the facility in the second quarter of 2024 as part of their effort to “prepare for production of next-generation electric vehicles beginning in 2025.”
This is a huge undertaking as the 487 acre site is being completely reimagined and streamlined. Besides body, paint, and assembly buildings, there will be an all-new 407,000 square foot battery plant, which will use components sourced from the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky.