As GM makes cuts across North America, Ford is investing. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker announced on Thursday a $1 billion investment into Chicago's South Side to expand production of the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. It will also go toward adding about 500 new jobs and protecting about 6,000 existing ones. "We are really proud of what we do here in America," Joe Hinrichs, Ford Motor Company president of the Americas, told Cheddar. "We are the largest producer of vehicles in America, largest manufacturing employment base ... and a leading exporter. This investment in the South Side of Chicago is an embodiment of what we do in America."