MARSHALL: US automaker Ford has said it was pausing work on a major battery plant in the northern US state of Michigan just seven months after starting the project with a Chinese partner, Western media reported on Monday.
According to media reports the carmaker took this decision due to a major strike along with other automakers Stellantis and General Motors.
However, the Ford spokesperson told the media that the decision to pause the $3.5 billion battery plant had not been related to the ongoing strike.
He said that the company was pausing the work at the Marshall project until it was confident about its capacity to fully operate the plant.
He said that Ford has not made any final decision regarding the planned investment in Marshall.
Ford lunches Marshall project in Michigan
In February this year, Ford announced its Marshall project in Michigan to diversify its battery profile away from its current use of nickel cobalt manganese (NCM).
Ford said it would collaborate with the Chinese company Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. to manufacture lithium iron phosphate batteries at the Marshall plant.
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Several Republican lawmakers had voiced concerns due to the partnership with a Chinese company.
The technology involves less expensive raw materials with efficient and faster charging than NCM batteries.
The automaker said it was targeting annual global output of 600,000 electric vehicles by end-2023 and two million by the end of 2026.
