Ford Motors has now announced it intends to move all its small vehicle manufacturing lines out of Detroit and the US and into its Mexico-based plants.
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The company also added it would move all of its small-car production from Detroit to Mexico within three years.
He noted that the company has two products coming to its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, where the outgoing Focus and C-Max cars are now built.
The industry has known for decades that domestic manufacturers struggle to make a profit on small cars.
Asked if any jobs would be lost in the move of small auto production to Mexico, Fields said, “Absolutely not”.
As part of contract negotiations with the union, the MI plant will be getting two products yet to be announced, she said.
In a statement prepared ahead of an analysts’ meeting in MI, the company also mentioned that it expects “core business pre-adjusted tax profit” to rise every year between 2016 and 2018.
The news comes a week after the company announced an expanded US$640 million recall to replace faulty door latches on an additional 1.5 million cars.
Ford Motor is telling investors today it will not neglect its core business while investing more money in new forms of mobility with uncertain business models.
But it is aggressively investing in emerging opportunities, including the electrification of its vehicle fleet and the development of autonomous cars.
Ford also announced it would invest $4.5 billion over the next four years, including into new models such as commercial vehicles, SUVs and performance vehicles. Chevy recently debuted its first Chinese-made SUV it intends to import into the U.S. But GM is already importing cars from a list of foreign countries. The stock has dropped by more than 14% year-to-date. The automaker has said previously that the new Mexican plant will not result in any USA job losses.
Donald Trump today called Ford Motor’s plan to relocate a small auto assembly plant to Mexico “disgraceful”, returning to the topic of the loss of manufacturing jobs that the candidate emphasized yesterday in a visit to Flint, Michigan.
During the 2016 presidential race, Ford has repeatedly drawn the ire of Republican nominee Donald Trump, especially after news of the Mexican plant broke earlier this year.
Why is Ford moving to Mexico?
Ford is looking at other ways to cut costs too. Ford wants to reduce that to 30, which would make production simpler and less expensive.
“The world is moving from simply owning vehicles to owning and sharing them”.
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“We shouldn’t allow it to happen”, Trump said, referring to Ford’s announcement.
