Ford to invest $1B, hire 500 at Chicago factories

Ford Motor Co. plans to invest $1 billion and add 500 jobs at its plants in Chicago as the automaker launches three new SUVs. Ford announced at the Chicago Auto Show on Thursday that they will expand capacity to produce a new Ford Explorer, new Police Interceptor Utility and new Lincoln Aviator. Work will be finished this spring. The new jobs at the two Chicago facilities will bring employment at both to about 5,800. The Chicago plant will stop making the one-time top-selling Taurus sedan as it meets rising demand for SUVs. The Chicago factory is Ford’s longest continually operating vehicle assembly plant. It started producing the Model T in 1924. The Aviator is due in showrooms this summer and the Interceptor is the top-selling police vehicle in the country.