Pensions are "a plan of the past," Ford CFO says

Ford CEO Jim Farley announced on February 13, 2023 in Romulus, Michigan, that Ford Motor Company would be partnering with the world's largest battery company, a China-based company called Contemporary Amperex Technology, to create an electric-vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Ford announced earlier this week that it was pausing work on a Michigan battery plant in which the automaker plans to invest $3.5 billion. Work will eventually resume work on that plant, Ford CEO Jim Farley said today, and it will make batteries for electric vehicles.

Ford needs to decide, though, how big that plant will ultimately be, something that depends on several factors. One of those factors is the outcome of these UAW labor negotiations, which will partly determine what sorts of vehicles Ford will produce that will use the batteries the factory makes.

Another factory is the final wording of Inflation Reduction Act rules that determine the amount of tax credits consumers will get when purchasing electric vehicles. In general, those rules favor vehicles with batteries manufactured in the US, but there are still techincal points to be worked out.

The Marshall, Michigan, battery plant has been the subject of political debate, also, because it will use technology from a Chinese company, CATL. Farley said that was not a factor in the decision to pause work on the plant, though.

"For Marshall, we’re not doing political math," Farley said.

Ford also has three other EV battery plants under construction. Two are in Kentucky and one nearby in Tennessee. Those are owned by a joint venture company operated by Ford and South Korea's SK Innovation and so are not part of these UAW negotiations, since they are operated by a separate company.