American auto manufacturer, Ford Motor shares appreciated by 3.79 percent following the news that it would shelve a planned $1.6-billion factory in Mexico.
The car manufacturer cancelled its Mexico plant plan and decided to invest $700 million at a Michigan factory, after Trump harshly criticised the Mexico investment plan.
Ford Motor Co., following months of the criticism from President-elect Donald Trump for expanding operations in Mexico, said on Wednesday, January 4, it will cancel its $1.6 billion assembly plant in the early stages of construction in Mexico, instead investing $700 million in Michigan to bring to market autonomous and electrified vehicles.
Ford planned to build its slow-selling Focus sedan in the new plant following 2018, but will instead build it at an existing Mexico plant in Hermosillo.
The $700 million investment will help transform Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant, which currently builds the Mustang and Lincoln Continental, into a high-tech hub capable of building a yet-to-be-determined autonomous hybrid and fully electric SUV with a 300-mile electric range.
Those new vehicles are among seven new electrified vehicles Ford detailed today, including hybrid versions of its F-150 and Mustang.
Ford CEO Mark Fields called the decision a “vote of confidence” in Trump and his pro-growth policies, although he told CNBC “the main reason for not building and canceling the plant is just due to market demand.”
“We’ve made this decision independently on what’s right for Ford, but we look at all the factors,” Fields told reporters at the announcement. “Our view, we see a more positive U.S. manufacturing business environment under President-elect Trump and the pro-growth policies and proposals he’s talking about.”
Ford in December 2015 announced plans to invest $4.5 billion in electric car research and add 13 electrified vehicles to its lineup by 2020. Today it announced details about seven of the 13.
