FLAT ROCK, Mich. – There have been two major developments today in the relationship between the auto industry and President-elect Donald Trump.
On Twitter this morning, Trump threatened GM with a tax on some imported small cars. But GM responded that its Cruze sedans that are sold in the United States are built in Ohio — and that just a small number of Cruze hatchbacks are imported from Mexico.
Meanwhile, Ford is canceling plans to build a new $1.6 billion factory in Mexico, and will instead invest some of that money in a U.S. factory that will build new electric and autonomous vehicles.
Trump had criticized plans for the factory in Mexico. He threatened 35-percent tariff on products made in Mexico and imported into the U.S.
NBC News took a closer look at the announcement. “But while the move is being hailed by some as a victory for the president-elect, a closer look at the announcement, made by senior Ford executives at a suburban Detroit assembly plant, did not actually reverse the central decision the automaker announced last April,” NBC reports. “Small car production, such as the compact Focus model, will still move to Mexico, just into an existing Ford plant in Hermosillo.”
“And while Ford will use some of the savings from the planned Mexican plant to expand its factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, that project appears likely to have happened anyway. The maker’s new body shop and expanded assembly line will handle production of two new battery-based models that were not expected to be built in Mexico, anyway,” NBC explains.
