The Automobile Industry in Louisville and Kentucky

Auto manufacturers, along with their suppliers and dealers provide a major driving force in the U.S. economy, and Kentucky – particularly Louisville - has capitalized on this industry. In Kentucky, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2008, 2.07 percent of the state's total employment was in motor vehicles, bodies and trailers, and parts manufacturing. Moreover, in 2007, over 19% of the state’s workforce that was employed in manufacturing was employed in the motor vehicles, bodies and trailers, and parts manufacturing sector. The automobile industry has a major presence in Kentucky because of the Commonwealth’s advantages, including: 

• Quality workforce
• Central location 
• Local and state governments that understand business needs
  
• Perennial provider of low cost power

Pertinent facts on the contribution of the automobile industry in Kentucky include: 

• In 2007, Kentucky’s automobile industry represented 3.88% of the state’s gross domestic product.
• Kentucky’s automotive industry gross domestic product for 2007 was over $5.9 billion.
• In 2008, Kentucky had the nation’s 3rd highest level of auto industry related employment as a percent of total state employment in the United States.
  

 
Additional information, including a "business cost comparison" and "other influential factors," are available in Kentucky's Automotive Industry Profile.

Ford in Louisville

Ford first came to Kentucky in 1912 when it opened a sales and service office on South Third Street. It was 1913 when Henry Ford began a "factory" at the Summers-Herman Dealership in Louisville. In 1916 production started in a four-story brick building on South Third Street, which built 7,000 vehicles a year. The plant turned out Model A's and other Ford trucks and cars. During World War II, the plant geared up to produce military equipment. The plant closed in 1925 - the same year Henry Ford created what was called "the first modern assembly plant" in Louisville. In 1955, Ford began operations at the Louisville Assembly Plant, and in 1969, began operations at the eastern Jefferson County Truck Plant. In 2008, the Louisville Assembly Plant employed 2,100. In 1997, an expansion at the Louisville operations added 1,000 jobs and 130,000 square feet to the Kentucky Truck Plant. Total employment at the truck plant in 2008 was 3,500. The expanded facility, at 4.6 million square feet, is the second-largest Ford assembly plant in North America.

Today, the Ford Corporation has reinvested in its Louisville plants in a big way– over $400 million in new investment to re-tool both plants and prepare them for future Ford products is happening right now.