From the Detroit News:   "following multiple fires this fall at a Novelis Inc. aluminum plant in New York. It'll hire a new third crew of 1,200 employees at Dearborn Truck in 2026 to make up for lost production".   https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2025/12/15/ford-model-e-q4-charge-ev-2029-profitable-f-150-lightning-erev-skon-blueoval/87778986007/#:~:text=F-150s following multiple fires this,make up for lost production.

Has Ford scheduled any extra weekend shifts to catch up on production?

Kia K4 sales are down this year even compared to K4/Forte sales last year and Kia overall hitting record sales in the US in 2025.    Kia used to have two compact cars between the Forte/Cerato and the Ceed. The global compact market is so bad that the K4 has replaced both.    Why should Ford invest in a dying market with little return?

Yes, they seem to exist in an alternate universe from Ford where they still build vehicles in segments Ford abandoned. This is the Kia K4 (formerly known as the Forte), its predecessors competed in the same segment as the Ford Focus. The upcoming compact Ford Bronco PHEV better be a Euro version of the next Bronco Sport. If it isn't, Ford will just be building multiple redundant vehicles.

In other EV news, Geely just had to bail out Polestar again: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/polestar-secures-600-million-loan-majority-owner-geely-holding-2025-12-16/  

Which is a logical move. Are there any c2 products planned for the NA market that you know of beyond the maverick suv/van?

How so? I don't see a ton of overlap between an electric ute and a sporty crossover. They'll both be RWD, relatively fast EVs, and somewhat affordable, but those are some relatively basic similarities.    The driving dynamics, design, interior layout, packaging, and size will all be completely different. I do hope we get a CE1 mach-e. 

Remember that this was a decision for Ford Argentina. Since Ford ended Brazilian production of the Ka, Fiesta, Focus, and EcoSport, they have the Ranger/Everest in Argentina and the Transit in Uruguay.    They also import in the Maverick, BS, Mustang, Territory, etc. But they do not make cheap vehicles anymore. 

The car companies reacted to Government direction, which was not the direction the market wanted.    I do not blame Ford, GM, Stellantis, VW, or any other automaker for investing where they were told to invest.    I blame the politicians and bureaucrats in DC and certain states that made it happen. That is where the true fault lies. 

A few easy reasons for this:   1. Its cost is amortized with Europe where the E-Transit (family) is needed overall. F-150 Lightning will not be produced there.  2. The engineering costs to switch it from gas to electric where not as extensive as the Lightning.  3. Manufacturing costs are also lighter. Whereas, the Lightning had to be produced on its own line in Dearborn, I believe the the E-Transit uses basically the same line as the normal Transit.  4. EVs are the future for short route delivery operations like UPS, USPS, and FedEx so they will have sales.