Ford Motor Co said Thursday it is adding shifts at its truck plants in Michigan and Missouri in response to increased demand for its F-150 pickup trucks and Escape SUVs. Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan, truck plant will return to a three-shift operation in September from two shifts, a move that will boost production of F-150 pickup trucks by about 10,000 this year. Ford is also adding a third shift at its Kansas City assembly plant in Missouri in October, which will increase production of Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs by 2,400 by the end of October. The actions are part of the automaker’s plans announced earlier this month to raise production for Q-3 and Q-4 Y 2009 after strong sales spurred by the US government’s “Cash-for-Clunkers” incentives. Ford has set Q-3 Y 2009 North American production at 495,000 vehicles, an addition of 10,000 from prior plans. It plans to produce 570,000 vehicles in Q-4 2009, up 33 % from a year earlier.The Escape SUV and the Focus sedan were among the top 10 vehicles sold under the “Clunkers” program, while the small Ford Focus sedan ranked third.
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