Despite Trump, Ford moves ahead with plans for Mexico plants

[Tennis]

Ford Mexico CEO Gabriel Lopez said at a company event in Mexico City Thursday that it's going ahead with plans to expand two of its plants -- an engine plant in Chihuahua and a transmission plant in Irapuato.

These plans aren't new -- they were first announced in 2015. But they may seem at odds with all the recent buzz about U.S. automakers bringing jobs back to the U.S., particularly Ford, amid pressure from Trump.

Related: On Mexican auto jobs, Trump misses the point. Most workers make parts, not cars

Ford got a lot of attention last month when it dropped its plans to build a $1.6 billion assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. But the small car production originally planned for the discontinued San Luis Potosi plant is shifting to an existing Ford Mexican assembly plant, not returning to the U.S.

Ford (F) never claimed to be bringing work back, but onlookers could be forgiven for getting confused. On that same day, Ford announced plans for a $700 million investment and 700 new jobs to build electric and self-driving cars at a Michigan plant.

Fields said the investment was a "vote of confidence" in the incoming Trump administration. But that production was never supposed to go to Mexico.

Trump, who frequently criticized Ford and its Mexican plants during the campaign, has had plenty of praise for Ford since his election, choosing to portray it as bringing work back from Mexico in response to Trump's election.

Ford CEO Mark Fields was invited to the White House twice in the first two days that Trump held office, when he met with a group of manufacturing CEOs and then a group of auto CEOs. And Trump singled him out for praise.

"Mark was so nice with the plant coming back, I wanted to sit next to him," Trump said at the start of the first day meeting.

The two expanded Mexican plants are still on track to open later this year, said Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker. Ford is spending $2.5 billion on constructions, and will hire 3,800 workers once the plants are fully up and running.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/17/news...nts/index.html

I think it's time to come to a consensus that the majority of manufacturing jobs ain't coming back.

[Somewhatconcerned]

Dat MAGA tho.

[Delana]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/17/news...nts/index.html

I think it's time to come to a consensus that the majority of manufacturing jobs ain't coming back.

Better hope they don't plan to sell any of that shit in America.

[Independent voter]

High paying jobs, good benefits.


GM Canada to move 600 jobs in Ontario to Mexico

http://www.freep.com/story/money/car...xico/97160726/

TORONTO — General Motors Canada is cutting 625 jobs at its assembly plant near London, Ontario, and moving those jobs to Mexico, where labor is cheaper, GM Canada's union spokesman said Friday.

Unifor Local 88 spokesman Mike Van Boekel said the layoffs will take effect in July at the CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, which currently employs 2,800 Unifor workers.

Unifor's national president, Jerry Dias, said the decision "reeks of corporate greed" and is a clear sign that the North American Free Trade Agreement must be renegotiated. U.S. President Trump has told Mexico and Canada he wants to renegotiate NAFTA, or perhaps even scrap it.

Read more:

Trump's 20% Mexican border tariff would impact auto industry
Ford's Canadian workers ratify new labor contract
"The CAMI announcement is a shining example of everything wrong with NAFTA, it must be re-negotiated," Dias said in a statement Friday. "It is imperative that we have trade rules that help ensure good jobs in Canada."

GM Canada said it gave Unifor advance notification of how product changeovers would affect workers at three Ontario plants.

The Ingersoll plant builds the Chevrolet Equinox and the GMC Terrain. The company recently announced it was shifting production of the GMC Terrain to Mexico. GM said the cuts Friday related to the changeover of production from older model Equinoxes to the next-generation Equinox.

Trump has called NAFTA the worst trade deal the U.S. has ever signed. He met with the chief executives of the Big Three U.S. automakers earlier this week, urging them to build more U.S. plants and invest less in Mexico.

[Tennis]

Better hope they don't plan to sell any of that shit in America.

Of course they will. What do you think Ford's biggest market is.

[unbound]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/17/news...nts/index.html

I think it's time to come to a consensus that the majority of manufacturing jobs ain't coming back.

Yeah, but that's only true if you accept reality.

Heck, even China is replacing their labor with robots now. Manufacturing isn't coming back to humans...period.

Amusingly, Eric Trump is still working on getting labor from outside the US - https://article.wn.com/view/2017/02/...ir_feet_in_be/

More amusingly is that there are lots of people who still think Trump is working on getting jobs back to the US... /facepalm

[Delana]

Of course they will. What do you think Ford's biggest market is.

Going to suck when they have to pay a 30% tariff.

I know you don't agree, but Ford is giving a middle finger to all of the laborers and "shit kickers" in Michigan that built that company, and to the US citizen/government that provided the incubator in which it grew. It's the right move for those same people to tell Ford to get fucked and pay the tariff.

[JohnBrown1917]

Going to suck when they have to pay a 30% tariff.

I know you don't agree, but Ford is giving a middle finger to all of the laborers and "shit kickers" in Michigan that built that company, and to the US citizen/government that provided the incubator in which it grew. It's the right move for those same people to tell Ford to get fucked and pay the tariff.

Going to suck when the consumers will have to pay a 30% tariff.*


FTFY

[Azadina]

Going to suck when they have to pay a 30% tariff.

I know you don't agree, but Ford is giving a middle finger to all of the laborers and "shit kickers" in Michigan that built that company, and to the US citizen/government that provided the incubator in which it grew. It's the right move for those same people to tell Ford to get fucked and pay the tariff.

Can you explain what exactly you hope to accomplish by forcing 30% price increase to consumers? Just because you can? Is that it?

[Delana]

Going to suck when the consumers will have to pay a 30% tariff.*


FTFY

Ford has to pay it or be at a competitive disadvantage to anyone manufacturing in America. See how that works?

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Can you explain what exactly you hope to accomplish by forcing 30% price increase to consumers? Just because you can? Is that it?

See my reply to Gilrak. I intend to make it competitively advantageous for companies to manufacture in America. Thereby getting American workers jobs instead of government support.

[Shadee]

Going to suck when the consumers will have to pay a 30% tariff.*


FTFY

Going to suck for Ford when less people buy their cars due to higher prices and knowledge of them being unamerican.

[Azadina]

Ford has to pay it or be at a competitive disadvantage to anyone manufacturing in America. See how that works?

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See my reply to Gilrak. I intend to make it competitively advantageous for companies to manufacture in America. Thereby getting American workers jobs instead of government support.

How do American workers get jobs in automated factories, apart from dozen to oversee it? Aka, statistically irrelevant. Also, I don't think a corporation is going to take 30% hit to their profits just because you want to try making it so. They won't.

[Uvwaex]

Better hope they don't plan to sell any of that shit in America.

With what money are these export dependent countries going to buy our new more expensive exports, if we aren't buying their exports?

[helic]

The tariff just means ford charges 30% more for their product, which means its competitors who manufacture purely in the states raise their prices by 29% to cash in on all that delicious extra consumer money that will be getting pulled out of their pockets.

[Uvwaex]

Ford has to pay it or be at a competitive disadvantage to anyone manufacturing in America. See how that works?

- - - Updated - - -



See my reply to Gilrak. I intend to make it competitively advantageous for companies to manufacture in America. Thereby getting American workers jobs instead of government support.

American Labor premiums over mexican workers are way more than 30%

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The tariff just means ford charges 30% more for their product, which means its competitors who manufacture purely in the states raise their prices by 29% to cash in on all that delicious extra consumer money that will be getting pulled out of their pockets.

Seriously. Without downward price competition, domestic producers can and will increase prices. Maybe not 30% or even 29% but half of it? easy

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Going to suck for Ford when less people buy their cars due to higher prices and knowledge of them being unamerican.

Going to suck for Americans when our higher priced cars dont sell in countries who get their wealth from exports we are no longer buying

[Delana]

How do American workers get jobs in automated factories, apart from dozen to oversee it? Aka, statistically irrelevant. Also, I don't think a corporation is going to take 30% hit to their profits just because you want to try making it so. They won't.

Literally the only reason for them to manufacture in Mexico instead of the US is cheap labor (and to avoid US corporate taxes, which is why Trump is advocating lowering our corporate tax to be competitive with the lowest in the world). There are still jobs to be done in automated factories. All those machines need to be serviced and repaired.

[Santti]

Going to suck for Ford when less people buy their cars due to higher prices and knowledge of them being unamerican.

Doubt many care about the "unamerican" part, seeing how you happily import and consume anything that is more complex than a hot dog. I might be over-exaggerating a little.

[Uvwaex]

Going to suck when they have to pay a 30% tariff.

I know you don't agree, but Ford is giving a middle finger to all of the laborers and "shit kickers" in Michigan that built that company, and to the US citizen/government that provided the incubator in which it grew. It's the right move for those same people to tell Ford to get fucked and pay the tariff.

How much are you willing to bet that a 30% tariff alone doesn't "fix it"

[NED funded]

How do American workers get jobs in automated factories, apart from dozen to oversee it? Aka, statistically irrelevant. Also, I don't think a corporation is going to take 30% hit to their profits just because you want to try making it so. They won't.

Automation would actually benefit america, since it would allow us to overcome the difference in wages between countries with productivity. Even if 60 workers manage a factory that's susbtantially better than 0.

[Uvwaex]

Literally the only reason for them to manufacture in Mexico instead of the US is cheap labor (and to avoid US corporate taxes, which is why Trump is advocating lowering our corporate tax to be competitive with the lowest in the world). There are still jobs to be done in automated factories. All those machines need to be serviced and repaired.

What happens to the cost of things that are more expensive to produce?