Ford plans to boost production of its hot-selling Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator this summer as both vehicles continue to gain share over their competitors in the large SUV segment, said the U.S. automaker in a statement released Tuesday.

Both Expedition and Navigator are produced at Ford's Kentucky Truck Plant in the U.S. city of Louisville. Ford is set to increase the production of this plant by 20 percent after the summer shutdown in July.

"After seeing a continued increase in customer demand for Expedition and Navigator, we are boosting production for a second time to meet it," said John Savona, Ford vice president of North American manufacturing.

To realize the production target, Ford will add 550 jobs at Kentucky Truck Plant by shifting approximately the same number of workers from Louisville Assembly Plant.

Retail sales of the Expedition eight-passenger SUV surged 35 percent and it gained 5.6 percentage points in market segment share last year. Navigator sales grew 70 percent in 2018 from 2017, marking its best sales year since 2007.