Ford to add 1,000 workers at Michigan F-150 factory

Truck sales are growing stronger as gas prices fall.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. is predicting pickup truck sales will bounce back enough for it to add 1,000 workers to its Dearborn F-150 factory in January.

The company celebrated the manufacturing launch of a new version of the truck Thursday and announced that it will restore a third shift to the plant.

Ford spokeswoman Angie Kozleski said the additional workers will come from those laid off earlier this year at many Ford plants when the company cut production. The move will bring employment at the Dearborn plant to around 3,300, she said.

Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, said the shift was added because there is demand for pickups.

The company has done well selling down the 2008 models in preparation for the new one, he said, and it’s anticipating increased sales.

“When we project forward looking at our sales rate this month, and what we project our sales rate to be over the next couple of months, it warrants the shift coming back here in Dearborn,” Fields said.

As the U.S. auto market has dwindled through the summer due to high gasoline prices and economic concerns, trucks have started to come back as a percentage of the retail market, rising from 8 or 9 percent in June to 13 or 14 percent in the past two months, Fields said.

That’s partly due to a huge drop in gasoline prices, he said, from peak of around $4 per gallon nationwide to $2.547 a gallon nationwide on Thursday.

“People are buying trucks in a market, in an economy that’s very poor,” Fields said. “And us being a leader there coming out with a new truck, we feel we’re well positioned.”

Through September, large pickup truck sales are down nearly 25 percent compared with the same month last year, according to Autodata Corp.

It’s a larger drop than the overall U.S. market, which is down 13 percent for the period. F-series truck sales are down 27 percent for the first nine months of the year.

In addition, Ford faces increased competition from a completely redesigned Dodge Ram truck, with both companies claiming their truck is better.

F-series trucks hit showrooms in early October, but the company celebrated the manufacturing launch on Thursday by gathering workers for a ceremony with executives.