Ford once had two U.S. plants producing the Ranger – Edison, NJ and Twin Cities in MN – since it was one of the best selling vehicles in the U.S. Ford abandoned the compact pickup segment, giving the U.S. market to Toyota and Nissan at the cost of thousands upon thousands UAW and supplier jobs.
In the midst of a Presidential race where Donald Trump is threatening to put a 35% tax on auto imports – specifically singling out Ford Motor over lost U.S. jobs, the Dearborn-based automaker announced today that it is investing in a new plant and expanding another one in Mexico’s San Luis Potosi State to produce more small cars.
The $1.6 billion investment will create 2,800 additional non U.S. jobs by 2020, according to Ford. Specific vehicles being produced at the new facility will be announced later, though it is rumored that Ford is bringing back the Ranger pickup in 2017.
Mexico is Ford’s fourth largest vehicle manufacturing site for global customers – behind the U.S., China and Germany. Vehicles produced in Mexico also are exported to the U.S., Canada, China, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and South Korea, most of them under the job-destroying NAFTA agreement.
During the past five years, Ford has invested $2.7 billion in facilities and supplier tooling in Spain, $2.4 billion in Germany and – with the company’s partners – $4.8 billion in China. All of these investments are part of the company’s “plan to serve global markets,” which means U.S. jobs were sacrificed.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
