Ford is sinking $1 billion and adding more jobs to plants in the Chicago area to expand production of the redesigned Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator sport utility vehicles.

The expansion comes as the automaker makes cuts overseas and shifts its lineup to make more SUVs, crossover-utility vehicles and trucks and away from sedans and sports cars, which have fallen out of favor with American drivers.

The move will add 500 jobs at Ford's Chicago-area Assembly and Stamping plants, bringing the total number of employees at the two factories to 5,800, the company said Thursday. Ford is building a new body shop and paint shop at the assembly plants and plans to make major changes to the final assembly area. The company also plans to install some new manufacturing technology, including 3D-printing tools and robots.