Despite the uncertainty brought by President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, Ford Motor Company is pushing ahead with the expansion of its engine production capacity at its Essex Engine Plant.
The company is currently doing cement work in a vacant portion of the plant in preparation to install the machinery needed to create a new V-8 engine line.
The line will give Ford the extra capacity needed to meet the needs of the Oakville Assembly Plant, which is being retooled to begin making F-Series Super Duty trucks in 2026, and its sprawling Kentucky Truck Assembly complex.
The expansion will bring with it 150 new jobs at Essex Engine.
“They can’t make them fast enough,” said Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo, who added Ford will begin hiring the new workers in May 2026. “They need more capacity.
“They need these engines for the Super Duty trucks. It’s their most profitable vehicles and best seller.”
The line will give Essex Engine the capability to produce 6.7-litre and 7.3-litre V-8 engines in addition to the 5.0-litre V-8 it already manufactures.
The other two larger V-8s are made at the Windsor Annex Engine Plant. Ford has said it will initially be able to build up to 100,000 trucks annually at Oakville.
“Oakville becomes operational in 2026, but we’ll need to stockpile engines for them before that,” D’Agnolo said.
“Windsor is blessed supplying all these engines and we’re the only ones producing them for Ford. They need them for both Kentucky and Oakville and putting in that line means more jobs in this country.
“It’s a reflection of the quality product we continue to put out.”
With the addition of the 150 new jobs, employment at Ford’s two local engine plants will be close to the 2,000 mark. Currently, there are a little over 1,800 employees combined at the plants.
D’Agnolo he’s glad to see the Windsor and Oakville investments getting nailed down with the anxiety that has crept into the industry with the return of Trump to the White House on Monday.
“No one knows what Donald Trump is going to come out with next,” D’Agnolo said. “He just comes up with stuff.
“He’s a negotiator and at the end of the day he throws stuff out there to to deflect from other stuff.”
D’Agnolo said he’s wary of the damage and uncertainty Trump can create for the auto industry even though he only has a four-year shelf life as president. It’s not so much the short-term impacts of tariffs, but the long-term decisions that will outlast a Trump presidency.
“I’m nervous because it will impacts us,” D’Agnolo said. “If companies are making decisions, looking at future products, I’m wary.”
D’Agnolo said even the future of automotive technology is being thrown into disarray by Trump’s return.
“It depends on the state, because the rules vary from state to state, and whatever government is in power,” said D’Agnolo of the future of internal combustion engines.
“They change every four years. There are just so many unknowns when it comes to politics.
“I just hope companies aren’t making decisions based on government every four years.
“You just can’t move plants. You’d lose billions doing that.”
However, D’Agnolo also warned the industry and governments can’t take their eye off transitioning to electric vehicles given the head start the Chinese already have along with the direction companies like Toyota, Honda and Hyundai are moving.