Ford Motor Company will invest $1 billion to build a new paint shop at its Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, with groundbreaking expected by late this year. The facility, Ford’s largest and highest-revenue manufacturing operation, produces a vehicle every 45 seconds and currently makes F-Series Super Duty pickups, Ford Expedition SUVs and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. The new shop will replace the existing facility and improve paint quality, efficiency and environmental sustainability. The investment brings Ford’s recent Kentucky commitments to about $4 billion, including roughly $2 billion to convert Louisville Assembly Plant for the company’s Universal Electric Vehicle Platform and about $2 billion for battery energy storage production at Ford Energy Systems in Glendale. Ford employs more than 11,500 people in Kentucky and has operated there since 1913. The company said the Louisville transformation is expected to create or secure about 2,200 jobs, while the Glendale operation is expected to create at least 2,100 jobs and begin production in late 2027. The announcement follows Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s stated concern about Ford’s ties to Chinese companies.