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Ford Motor Company is planning to hire at least 12,000 employees by the close of 2015, with nearly half of these employees expected to serve on the assembly team for the 2015 Ford Transit. This marks the first time the Ford Transit has been manufactured and sold in the United States.

Sold regularly as a cargo van, the Ford Transit is also available as a pickup truck, cutaway van chassis, minibus or passenger van. The Transit is a complex vehicle that offers consumers a choice of two wheelbases, three roof heights, three body lengths and diesel or gasoline engines. It is being created with new and improved paint and body shops and assembly lines. Additionally, Ford has invested more than $1.1 billion to increase production of the company’s full-size F-150 pickups and commercial vans.

In 2014, Ford had stated a goal of hiring 5,000 salaried and hourly employees in the United States. Kansas City currently includes nearly 5,000 hourly workers on three separate crews – the last of which was created in the summer of 2013. Extra workers have been hired for plants at Michigan Assembly and Flat Rock, as well as Lima and Louisville, Ohio. Approximately 300 more jobs are expected at the engine plant in Cleveland.Ford recently paid out over $500 million to cover service, recall and warranty costs for vehicles.

By the end of 2015, Ford plans to open two additional manufacturing facilities in Asia and one in South America. The company will sell the stripped chassis and the E-series cutaway and is working with fleet customers to prepare for an upcoming switch from the E-series to the Transit.