Ford Motor Company President and CEO Mark Fields says that the automaker is willing to work with president-elect Donald Trump on keeping US jobs secure – provided that Trump’s policies are right.
Speaking to Bloomberg in an exclusive interview, Fields said that Ford “will be very clear in the things we’d like to see,” citing tax reform, safety guidelines for autonomous vehicles, and currency-manipulation rules which promote free and fair trade as priorities. He also suggested that Ford will lobby the Trump administration for a softening of federal and state fuel-economy regulations, which he says hurt business by compelling investment in a relatively unprofitable segment.
“In 2008, there were 12 electrified vehicles offered in the US market and it represented 2.3 percent of the industry,” said the Ford CEO. “Fast forward to 2016; there’s 55 models, and year-to-date it’s 2.8 percent.” He added that “at the end of the day, you’ve got to have customers, so obviously, there would be pressure on the business if there’s not a market [for electrified vehicles].”
Despite this, Ford has not canceled its plans to spend another $4.5 billion on electrified vehicles by 2020, introducing 13 new electrified models and bringing the drivetrain technology to 40 percent of its global nameplates.
No Comments yet