Ford to Move Small-Car Production to Mexico

Ford CEO Mark Fields told investors recently it plans to move its small-car production from the U.S. to Mexico.  “Over the next two to three years, we will have migrated all of our small-car production to Mexico and out of the United States,” Fields said at an investor conference.

Ford already builds the Fiesta subcompact and the Fusion mid-size sedan in Mexico. There is an expectation that Ford will build a new Ranger mid-size pickup truck and possibly a new Bronco compact sport-utility at a Michigan plant.

Production of the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Continental, and full-size Ford Taurus will remain in the U.S.

Ford isn’t the first automaker to move small car production out of the U.S. Mexico has become an auto production Mecca for new industry investment, surpassing Canada in annual automotive production. In recent years, automakers such as General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota and Volkswagen have announced plans to either expand existing plants or build new ones in Mexico.

The number of auto jobs in Mexico reached 675,000 last year, a 40 percent increase from 2008. U.S. auto jobs increased 15 percent over the same period to more than 900,000, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

Ford has said it continues to invest heavily in its U.S. plants and won’t cut jobs here. Last fall, the automaker made a commitment to invest $9 billion in U.S. plants and create or retains more than 8,500 jobs as part of a new four-year contract with the United Autoworkers Union. Of that, $4.8 billion goes to 11 facilities in Michigan.