The automobile manufacturer claims the move is purely financial and will not account for any loss in U.S. hourly employment, according to multiple news sources.
Ford Motor Co. has chosen China over Mexico to build its Ford Focus car, according to reports from multiple media sources.
According to the plan announced by the company on Tuesday, production of the Focus in Michigan would end next year with imports of the vehicle from China starting in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The new Focus originally was to be built in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, but the company canceled construction of a $1.6 billion plant there in January. At the same time, then-president-elect Trump had taken to Twitter to criticize General Motors for importing cars from Mexico.
Ford says the move from Mexico to China will save the company $1 billion in investment costs and will make it “a more operationally fit company,” according to NPR. It also promises that “no U.S. hourly employees will be out of a job” because of the move to China, reported NPR.
Ford is coming off a record year in China, with Ford Focus sales up 110 percent, according to the company’s highlights. When Ford it opened its sixth assembly plant in China back in 2015, the company said it could build 1.4 million vehicles a year in the country, said NPR.
According to Reuters, the the decision to move from Mexico to China “signals shift in strategy at Ford, which is responding to dwindling U.S. consumer demand for small cars in favor of more expensive and more profitable trucks and SUVs.
Cars accounted for more than 50 percent of U.S. auto sales as recently as 2012, but have fallen to just 37 percent of sales this year.”
Ford claims the move is purely financial and will not impact U.S. employment, as the Michigan plant will instead build SUVs and midsize trucks rather than small cars.
Ford moves car production from Mexico to China
