Michigan - Ford Motor will scrap plans to build a $1.6
billion plant in Mexico, after coming under criticism by President-elect Donald
Trump for shifting small-car production south of the border.
Mark Fields, Ford’s chief executive officer, announced
the plan today at a press conference at the automaker’s factory in Flat Rock,
Michigan, south of Detroit.
The second largest US automaker builds the Mustang sports
car and Lincoln Continental sedan from its Flat Rock plant, which employs
more than 3 700 workers.
Ford idled the factory for a week in October due to
declining Mustang sales, which fell 13 percent in the first 11 months of 2016.
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Until February of last year, Ford also built the Fusion
family sedan in Flat Rock. After sales for the model slumped, the automaker
consolidated production of Fusion at its primary plant in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Fusion sales fell more than 10 percent last year through November.
Ford was a target of President-elect Donald Trump during
his campaign for plans to move small car production from the US to Mexico. The
Dearborn, Michigan-based company changed course on a plan to move production of
the Lincoln MKC sport utility vehicle south of the border. Fields said Trump
influenced the automaker’s decision to continue building the MKC in a
Louisville, Kentucky, factory where it also produces the Ford Escape SUV.
Ford shares rose 2.5 percent to $12.44 at 11:34 a.m. in
New York, while the Mexican peso dropped 0.8 percent against the dollar.
BLOOMBERG