Will build a 500,000 square foot factory in Brampton, Ont., to help Ford keep up with surging demand for its F-150 Lightning
Canada’s biggest maker of automobile parts is set to assemble batteries for Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 Lightning pickup trucks — the electric version of the best-selling vehicle in North America and perhaps the most hotly anticipated EV since Teslas hit the market more than a decade ago.
Magna International Inc. said Feb. 15 that it will invest $470 million to build a 500,000 square foot factory in Brampton, Ont., to help Ford keep up with surging demand for its F-150 Lightning and also to retool five existing factories in the province. Aurora-based Magna said the expansion will create more than 1,000 jobs.
The announcement shows how the shift to electric vehicles is breathing new life into Ontario’s auto sector, which until recently had been shrinking as production shifted to the U.S. South, Mexico and other cheaper jurisdictions.
So far Magna has said it received $23.6 million in grants from the province of Ontario, but has been silent about whether the federal government — which has doled out billions of dollars to entice automakers, chemical companies and others to build out a Canadian battery manufacturing ecosystem — will also contribute.
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