Ford BlueOval City — Tennessee

Ford’s biggest manufacturing bet in a generation is taking shape on a stretch of West Tennessee farmland. BlueOval City, a roughly 3,600-acre campus at the Memphis Regional Megasite near Stanton, is a $5.6 billion build that ranks as the largest single private investment in Tennessee history.

Project Scope

The campus pairs a battery plant with a vehicle assembly plant and an on-site supplier park, designed so raw materials and finished parts move across one footprint instead of trucking between distant sites. The battery operation, run by BlueOval SK, Ford’s joint venture with SK On, is on track for commercial production in 2028 and will also supply cells for energy-storage customers beyond Ford.

The vehicle side has changed since groundbreaking. Ford originally planned a next-generation electric pickup here, then pulled back as EV demand cooled. The renamed Tennessee Truck Plant will now build gas-powered trucks starting in 2029, a pivot that says as much about the market as it does about the building, which was engineered flexibly enough to absorb the switch.

Why It Matters

BlueOval City is a test of the all-in-one manufacturing model U.S. automakers are chasing to cut cost and supply-chain risk. Its scale alone reshapes a rural region, with thousands of construction workers on site for years before steady-state production begins. The EV-to-gas turn also makes it a useful case study in how to design a megaplant that can change its product without starting over.

It sits alongside a wave of Southeastern auto and battery builds, from Hyundai’s Metaplant in Georgia to BMW’s battery plant in Woodruff. Project details are tracked by Ford and trade coverage at InsideEVs.

Project Team & Details