Ford to Create 11,000 Jobs in US and Asia With Biggest Set of Vehicle Launches

Car giant Ford is to create 11,000 jobs in the US and Asia next year as it rolls out 23 new vehicles.

The launch, the biggest in the manufacturer's history, will see 16 new cars and trucks introduced in North America in 2014, as well as an updated version of the iconic Mustang sports car, and a "radical overhaul" of the firm's F-150 pickup truck.

Ford, the second-largest carmaker in the US, said it will hire more than 5,000 workers in the country, including 3,300 salaried positions, as well as 6,000 workers in Asia.

"We have an unprecedented year of launches," Joe Hinrichs, head of Ford's operations in North and South America, told Reuters.

He added: "We've always said we're going to keep investing in product and with the number of launches we have next year, this reinforces that."

The company said it is on track to make six million cars and trucks across the globe.

The announcement follows Ford of Europe's chief operating officer call to the engineering industry to "open its doors" and change its perception to attract more women to the sector.

Barb Samardzich told IBTimes UK that professions such as law and medicine have a much higher proportion of women in their fields.

The car executive argued one of the main problems was getting girls to stick with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects throughout their academic careers.

"When girls are going through school, they are getting steered away from those subjects," she said.

"If they get coaxed away, it's difficult for women to continue onto higher level education and get the background they need to become an engineer."

"Engineering doesn't have the same kind of perception as law and medicine does," she explained.