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Ford to resume building Michigan electric vehicle battery plant delayed by strike, but scale it back

FILE - A logo on a vehicle at a Ford dealership in Springfield, Pa., Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Ford is recalling more than 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. in two actions to fix leaky brake hoses and windshield wiper arms that can break. The company says in documents posted Friday, March 17, 2023 by safety regulators that the front brake hoses can rupture and leak brake fluid. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Matt Rourke/AP
/
AP
FILE - A logo on a vehicle at a Ford dealership in Springfield, Pa., Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Ford is recalling more than 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. in two actions to fix leaky brake hoses and windshield wiper arms that can break. The company says in documents posted Friday, March 17, 2023 by safety regulators that the front brake hoses can rupture and leak brake fluid. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

DETROIT, MI (AP)— Ford Motor Company is resuming construction on a Michigan electric vehicle battery plant that the company postponed two months ago during a strike by the United Auto Workers union.

But the automaker says due to slowing electric vehicle sales growth, it will scale back the factory's size, cutting the number of planned jobs from 2,500 to 1,700. The annual battery cell output will drop from enough for 400,000 vehicles per year to about 230,000.

Ford put the plan on hold in late September as the union went on strike at targeted assembly plants run by Ford, General Motors, and Jeep maker Stellantis. The contract dispute ended last week with workers at all three voting to ratify new agreements.

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