Breaking: Ford Surprises Industry by Halting $35 Billion Michigan Electric Vehicle Battery Plant – Shocking Details Inside!

Ford has temporarily halted the progress on a brand new electric vehicle battery plant worth $3.5 billion in Michigan. This decision comes at a time when the shift towards electric vehicles has become a significant challenge in the ongoing United Auto Workers strike involving Ford, GM, and Stellantis. Ford spokesman T.R. Reid clarified that a final verdict is yet to be reached regarding the future operational status of the plant.

The plant will be situated on a 950-acre site near Marshall, a town in southern Michigan. Ford's intention was to hire 2,500 employees once the plant commenced production in 2026. The plans for the battery factory were initially announced by Ford last February.

"We are halting construction work and reducing spending on the Marshall project until we have confidence in our ability to operate the plant competitively," stated Reid in an email. "Several factors need to be taken into account."

Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis are presently confronting a strike initiated by the United Auto Workers. It is unclear if the UAW contract negotiations were part of the deliberations mentioned.

The union fears that the transition to all-electric lineups, which require substantially less labor compared to gasoline-powered vehicles, will result in more job cuts and decreased wages. Ensuring job stability has emerged as a crucial concern during the negotiation process.

According to Reuters reports, a few politicians have criticized Ford for relying on "Chinese technology" in the factory, despite the fact that Ford would be the sole owner and operator of the factory. The original plans stated that the factory would be a fully owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Co., but it would collaborate with the Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL, to manufacture batteries using their expertise and services. CATL, which is the largest battery manufacturer in the world, also supplies batteries to Tesla.

Last year, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) legislation, amounting to $430 billion, in order to revamp the distribution of tax credits for electric vehicles (EVs). According to the new law, individuals purchasing an EV will be eligible for tax credits of varying amounts, depending on factors such as the vehicle's manufacturing origin, battery components, and whether the battery minerals were extracted within the United States.

In addition to the plants Ford announced in Kentucky and Tennessee in 2021, a battery plant is also scheduled to be in operation. Ford collaborates with South Korean company SK Innovations for the construction of these plants. With the aim of manufacturing 2 million electric vehicles globally by late 2026, Ford has articulated its ambitious plans.