Ford To Cancel Plans For $1.6B Facility In Mexico Following Pressure From Trump
Ford Motor Co will cancel plans to open a $1.6B manufacturing plant in Mexico in response to criticism from President-elect Donald Trump about companies taking jobs out of the country.
In a press conference Tuesday, Ford CEO Mark Fields said the company will continue making small cars in an existing facility in Mexico while investing $700M in its Michigan facility to help with electric car development. Ford builds Mustangs at its Flat Rock, MI, plant and employs 3,700; the same plant closed for one week in October in an effort to balance demand with production after a 32% drop in Mustang sales in September.
Ford is one of several manufacturers singled out by Trump during his campaign for taking jobs overseas. Ford’s announcement came on the heels of a tweet Trump sent Tuesday morning chastising rival General Motors for sending Chevrolet Cruze production to Mexico and shipping cars back to the US without paying taxes. [Bloomberg]
