Ford's engine made in Germany?

[chazus]

A large portion of Ford parts are not made in the US. A lot of it is from Mexico, Thailand, and other countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ion_facilities

[Auxora]

I assume the OP is in the EU? Otherwise it's quite misleading. Ford's engines are made regionally for the most part (as are most auto/truck/etc. manufacturers). For North American Ford vehicles, most of the engines are made in Canada, Ohio, Michigan, or Mexico - and definitely not Germany. The exact plant depends on the car or truck it's for. Ford's engine plant in Germany is for their cars in the EU market.

The markets are really completely different since there isn't a big demand for cars with tiny 1L engines in the US like there is in the EU, and 5.4L or Triton V10 engines for Mustang GT's and F150+ trucks aren't in big demand in the EU. So it's kind of common sense to manufacture them where they are needed, and it also makes sense for tariff/tax reasons. It's possible there was a surplus in the EU and they sent some extra engines over to NA, but that would be a rare exception with 4 Ford engine plants here in US/Canada/Mexico.

[Rasulis]

Ford builds some of their lower demand engines for their cars in Europe, but their real money makers (truck engines) are mainly a US built item.

We were not looking for a truck, so I was not paying attention to the F150s. As far as I can see, all the engines for Escape, Focus, Explorer and Fusion on the lot were all made in Germany. It was surprising to me. The last Ford car I had was a '67 Mustang rag top.

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I assume the OP is in the EU? Otherwise it's quite misleading. Ford's engines are made regionally for the most part (as are most auto/truck/etc. manufacturers). For North American Ford vehicles, most of the engines are made in Canada, Ohio, Michigan, or Mexico - and definitely not Germany. The exact plant depends on the car or truck it's for. Ford's engine plant in Germany is for their cars in the EU market.

The markets are really completely different since there isn't a big demand for cars with tiny 1L engines in the US like there is in the EU, and 5.4L or Triton V10 engines for Mustang GT's and F150+ trucks aren't in big demand in the EU. So it's kind of common sense to manufacture them where they are needed, and it also makes sense for tariff/tax reasons. It's possible there was a surplus in the EU and they sent some extra engines over to NA, but that would be a rare exception with 4 Ford engine plants here in US/Canada/Mexico.

OP is in San Diego.

[Kellhound]

I find it highly dubious that trucks would be Ford's primary income source. It's a bit late here, so I can't be arsed to sort through Google to find a sales/income breakdown, but if you by any chance could link something alike I'd much appreciate it.

In January, FoMoCo sold 120,400 vehicles. Of that, 57,995 were F-Series pickups. Basically, half of all vehicles FoMoCo sells are trucks.

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We were not looking for a truck, so I was not paying attention to the F150s. As far as I can see, all the engines for Escape, Focus, Explorer and Fusion on the lot were all made in Germany. It was surprising to me. The last Ford car I had was a '67 Mustang rag top.

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OP is in San Diego.

Thats because all of those vehicles are really cars (even the ones masquerading as SUVs), and Europe has been the source of most of their small displacement car engines for awhile.

[Bryntrollian]

No one buys Buick unless they are old men with their belts around their nipples.

I hear they are big in certain Asian markets

[Aggrophobic]

I would guess becuase american made... anything is usually of poor quality.

[Deleted]

My wife's 2006 BMW is getting too old for the mileage that she puts on it. So we decided to retire the car (as in donate to NPR) and buy a new car. We were at Penske Ford on Saturday. Very nice people and they got us a nice car.

As I was walking around the lot, I notice on the stickers that although all the cars were assembled in the US (somewhere in Kentucky), their engines were manufactured in Germany. My question is “Why Germany?” Manufacturing cost in Germany can't be cheaper than in the US. Or have we as a nation fallen that far behind in term of advanced manufacturing?

Because those engines aren't manufactured in Germany. In reality they are manufactured in Slovakia, Romania, Hungary with slaves and a few pennies as wage. For example the Audi engine factory in Hungary. Then thanks to the EU laws and Schengen it's brought back to Germany, labelled as german product and sold for every car manufacturer. Then thanks to the EU-USA trade deals it's shipped into the USA for pennies.

So, as always, the answer for your question is money and profit

[Phlegethon]

We don't manufacture much in the US, mainly because those pesky "regulations" and "minimum wages" made it impossible to do it in the US.

Not in other countries with the same things in place, mind. Just.. you know. The soil of the US makes it harder to make a profit on. For... reasons.

Damn workers and their stupid rights.
Forget that the whole economy is based around them having a disposable income, but fuck them and their rights.

[caervek]

I think the Ford Focus itself was originally designed as a split effort between Ford UK/Germany for European markets, and I think those are sold in the US too? And to my knowledge the Focus is manufactured all over the world.

Indeed, the Focus really turned Fords fortunes around globally. For a few years Ford Europe were effectively bankrolling Ford USA. Sadly that meant they couldn't reinvest as much of the profit from the Focus boom back into R&D as they should have and the wave died out, but it was cool seeing Ford become a popular brand again.

[Rennadrel]

Indeed, the Focus really turned Fords fortunes around globally. For a few years Ford Europe were effectively bankrolling Ford USA. Sadly that meant they couldn't reinvest as much of the profit from the Focus boom back into R&D as they should have and the wave died out, but it was cool seeing Ford become a popular brand again.

Ford has streamlined a lot of their manufacturing, components are becoming common between different vehicles in their brand on a global scale keeps their costs down. The new 10 speed automatic transmission will be used in the F150 series of pickup trucks, including the new Raptor as well as the Ranger which returns to the NA market in two years and the Bronco in 3 years. Not to mention it's going to into most of their other vehicles eventually.

[Slant]

Because German engineering > US engineering.

Fixed that for you. Not arrogance, just a matter of fact. It's a well known fact also that US companies will hire German engineers at a premium. One of the cheapest way to get a green card into the US from Germany is to be an engineer of something.

[ati87]

We don't manufacture much in the US, mainly because those pesky "regulations" and "minimum wages" made it impossible to do it in the US.

Not in other countries with the same things in place, mind. Just.. you know. The soil of the US makes it harder to make a profit on. For... reasons.

Just going to mention all of the crap that people in the US have to deal with that are unthinkable in Europe like lead in water ( brown water in general) or other crap that are used in every day products that are banned in Europe.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...r-in-its-bread

Regulations in Europe are much stricter across the board, only difference is that our companies know not to bitch about it every day.

Ofc if you want to compete with safety regulations and with wages with countries like China and India then be prepared for long hours, smog and potential suicide because the ratio working conditions and salary.

[Stacyrect]

We don't manufacture much in the US, mainly because those pesky "regulations" and "minimum wages" made it impossible to do it in the US.

Not in other countries with the same things in place, mind. Just.. you know. The soil of the US makes it harder to make a profit on. For... reasons.

Regulations, taxs, and unions were the same major underlying causes of US manufacturing flight. The euro is actually at 1.09 dollars, so minimum wage isn't the reason it's being made in germany.

[Allybeboba]

There is a huge Ford engine plant really close to me in the UK, has been for a long time. Don't think it's anything new that Ford manufacture a lot of their engines in Europe. I think the Ford Focus itself was originally designed as a split effort between Ford UK/Germany for European markets, and I think those are sold in the US too? And to my knowledge the Focus is manufactured all over the world.

Ford spread their wings far and wide with manufacturing.

Ford has a stake in some of the car brands that people in Europe may not even realize.

[Pann]

Ford owns a some of the car brands that people in Europe may not even realize.

As a result of the financial crisis they sold most of their subsidiaries a few years back but they did at one point own Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and they had a controlling interest in Mazda.

[Allybeboba]

As a result of the financial crisis they sold most of their subsidiaries a few years back but they did at one point own Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar Land Rover and they had a controlling interest in Mazda.

You are correct. I did not realize that. They still own a bit of Mazda. And have a HQ in Germany.

[Delaios]

No one buys Buick unless they are old men with their belts around their nipples.

You mean like this?

http://s54.photobucket.com/user/cgss...c2ba1.jpg.html

[Tierbook]

You mean like this?

http://s54.photobucket.com/user/cgss...c2ba1.jpg.html

I..... I.... I thought that would be a picture of a car.....

[Pann]

I..... I.... I thought that would be a picture of a car.....

Yes, that link is very much click at your own risk!

[melodramocracy]

We don't manufacture much in the US, mainly because those pesky "regulations" and "minimum wages" made it impossible to do it in the US.

Not in other countries with the same things in place, mind. Just.. you know. The soil of the US makes it harder to make a profit on. For... reasons.

Totally agreed. Those wage disparities need to go to shareholders, individuals who more often than not have no clue how the business is run, or even support said products in any consumer fashion. The people actually making the product? Fuck em.

Just about any "why is capitalism doing this" question can be answered with "because we've been sold the idea that Friedman economics are a smart move".

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I would guess becuase american made... anything is usually of poor quality.

This stigma, generally a leftover from the 70's / 80's, is simply not going to go away it seems. I think musical gear (primarily guitar) is the only industry I can think of where made in the US is generally thought of as a positive.