Ford is expanding production of its Lincoln vehicles in the United States, a move the automaker says will create thousands of direct and indirect American jobs while reducing its reliance on vehicles imported from China.
The company said the expansion will “further strengthen Ford’s position as America’s No. 1 auto producer,” according to an Aug. 12 CNBC report.
For Ford CEO Jim Farley, the decision comes down to where the company believes Lincoln belongs.
“Lincoln is a quintessentially American brand, and Ford is America’s automaker,” Farley said in a statement.
“This wasn’t necessarily the easiest path. In fact, it’s a path most of our competitors aren’t choosing to take. But Ford builds in America because we believe in America, and we’re betting on that belief again.”
The Trump Manufacturing Boom Continues: @Ford is reshoring manufacturing and bringing THOUSANDS of jobs with it.@USDOL is working to ensure our workforce has the skills to fill these jobs and power America’s manufacturing renaissance.https://t.co/aD2xt2K19u pic.twitter.com/7fX4fcdxrb
— U.S. Department of Labor (@USDOL) August 14, 2026
Ford already produces Lincoln vehicles at U.S. plants. The Navigator and Aviator are assembled in Louisville and Chicago, with some of those vehicles later exported to markets including Canada, Mexico, and countries in the Middle East.
But Lincoln’s manufacturing footprint has also extended to China. In 2023, Ford announced that the Lincoln Nautilus would become the brand’s first vehicle imported into the United States from China.
Now the company is moving toward more domestic production, with the Trump administration’s automotive tariff policies playing a role in that calculation.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick pointed directly to tariffs when discussing Ford’s plans during an interview with Fox Business.
“They’re bringing their manufacturing home,” Lutnick said.
“Ford is going to rock us with bringing manufacturing back to America,” he continued. “Thousands of jobs, thousands and thousands of jobs coming back to America because of these tariffs on automotives.”
Ford’s US manufacturing expansion to bring ‘thousands and thousands of jobs,’ Lutnick sayshttps://t.co/W6tmU2x6Xw
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) August 14, 2026
The jobs involved are not limited to assembly lines. As automotive manufacturing becomes increasingly dependent on sophisticated equipment and technology, Lutnick said the United States will also need workers who have been trained for those positions.
“We’re gonna have to train young people for these high-tech jobs,” he said. “We are going high-tech in America.”
That creates another challenge alongside bringing production back: developing an American workforce capable of filling the jobs created by new and expanded factories.
Lutnick said the administration is concentrating on advanced manufacturing as part of its effort to increase domestic production.
“We are going to build these factories here in America, and that’s the key,” he said.
