Ford Motor Company President and CEO Mark Fields denies that president-elect Donald Trump’s constant criticism prompted today’s announcement that the automaker will not be erecting a planned $1.6 billion small-car manufacturing plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Speaking to Neil Cavuto on Fox Business on Tuesday, Mark Fields said that the automaker would “absolutely” have made the decision to cancel construction on the San Luis Potosi plant even if Donald Trump hadn’t won the US presidential election. Ford came under heavy fire from Trump throughout his presidential campaign for its plans to invest billions to expand its manufacturing footprint in Mexico.
“We are doing this decision based on what’s right for our business,” Mark Fields said on Cavuto: Coast to Coast. “As we think about the investments here in Michigan – as you can imagine, Neil – we look at a lot factors as we make those.” Mr. Fields conceded that the “more positive US manufacturing business environment under President-elect Trump and some of the pro-growth policies that he said he is going to pursue” did factor into the automaker’s decision.
According to the Ford CEO, the primary impetus for canceling the San Luis Potosi plant was that Ford has “seen decreasing demand here in North America for small cars, and we simply don’t need the capacity anymore.”
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