Donald Trump is likely to have a lot to say about Ford’s announcement that it is moving production of its small cars to Mexico, but the most important part of the announcement is actually old news:
The only small cars still produced in the U.S. are the Focus and C-Max, built at Michigan Assembly in Wayne. Ford announced last year it would end production of those vehicles in the U.S. in 2018, but until now has not confirmed where they would go.
It’s not good news that production is moving to Mexico to lower costs. It’s not good news that Americans don’t buy more small, efficient cars. But there won’t be layoffs as a result of this move:
Ford has said it continues to invest heavily in its U.S. plants and isn't cutting jobs here. Last fall, the automaker Ford made a commitment in November 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 UAW. Of that, $4.8 billion goes to 11 facilities in Michigan.
That fact won’t stop Trump from claiming that jobs are going, any more than the fact that Ford had already announced the production would be leaving the U.S. will prevent him from claiming he predicted this.