Sales of the Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) F-150 flagship pickup have surged so strongly that the U.S. car company will add workers to build more of them. Analysts have noted that much of the increase of sales in the American market this year is due to light trucks, SUVs and pickups. Most get poor gas mileage, so the trend is hard to explain. When Ford reported April sales, it noted:

Sales of America’s best-selling pickup, the Ford F-Series increased 24 percent, with 59,030 pickups sold. This represents F-Series best April sales results since 2006. It also is the 21st straight monthly sales increase for F-Series — with sales up 19 percent year to date.

USA Today reported on the Ford jobs added:

Spurred by a booming market for fullsize pickups, Ford Motor says it will add a third crew of 900 workers at the suburban Kansas City factory that builds F-150 pickups.

“Fullsize truck sales are growing three times as fast as the industry,” says Joe Hinrichs, Ford Motor executive vice president and president of The Americas. “There’s strong (economic) growth and housing starts are up.”

And:

Ford also confirmed it will begin production late this year of its Transit fullsize van at the Kansas City assembly plant, located at Claycomo, Mo. That will add more than 1,000 jobs there.

After years of huge layoffs, this news is a modest victory for car workers.

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