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Ford: We're Canceling $1.6 Billion Mexico Facility, Investing In Electric and US Plant (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Today at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant, Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields unveiled a large-scale electric vehicle initiative that will run through the company's next five years. Ford plans to invest $4.5 billion in electric vehicle production by 2020, and the company said it will produce 13 new electric vehicles, including a Mustang, an F-150, police cars, and a Transit Custom van. Additionally, Fields revealed that Ford would be canceling a previously announced $1.6 billion-production facility in Mexico. Instead, the company wants to invest $700 million in the existing Flat Rock facility, generating 700 new jobs focused on EV and autonomous initiatives at that location, according to Ford. Ford described seven of the 13 upcoming EVs during its press conference today. The F-150 Hybrid will be available by 2020 in North America and the Middle East, and Fields noted it'll be powerful enough to stand-in for on-site generators in a pinch. The Mustang Hybrid will deliver "V8 power and even more low-end torque" according to Ford; it too is intended for a 2020 release. Generally, electric motors are well suited to applications where you want a lot of immediate torque, so their presence should work well in a light duty truck like the F-150. Among the other notable vehicles highlighted, Ford is planning a fully electric small SUV that can "deliver an estimated range of at least 300 miles" by 2020. The company also wants to produce an autonomous vehicle "designed for commercial ride hailing or ride sharing" in North America by 2021.
Another win for The Donald
And a loss for our domestic car companies who apparently are starting to become less competitive to appease our new President. In what world is a car company deciding to cancel $1.6 billion in investment for the future and replace it with only $700 billion of investment a good thing?
This may have nothing to do with the new administration. Ford could have simply realized they couldn't justify $1.6 billion in investment for new facilities, and needed to be more cautious by enhancing current factories. But if they really did make this decision because of fear of tariffs, we are already starting to see some of the worst consequences of protectionism. American companies being coerced to decrease efficiency to appease those who oppose the modernization of our workforce cannot be considered a win for anyone concerned about the long term economic health of our country.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
Everybody knows Ford sucks. Hard. They haven't won a NASCAR championship in years.
Is there even a single part on a modern NASCAR car that has any relation at all to an actual production vehicle?
I think that argument is kind of like "Law degrees from Yale suck: Their football record was only 3-7 this year."
Pleeeeeze, Mr President, I can't stand any more winning, all this winning, I'd like to take a break from all this winning.....
It was as if the hostage takers are all frightened of what Reagan would do
To the contrary, they knew exactly what Reagan would do. They made a back room deal with Iran during the election - an act of Treason by the gipper.
Reagan should have died of his dementia in federal prison.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.