http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-ford-mexico-20160405-story.htmlFord Motor Co. plans to build a $1.6-billion auto assembly plant in Mexico, creating about 2,800 jobs there and shifting small-car production away from the United States at a time when moving jobs south of the border has become a major issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.
The company announced that it would open the plant in San Luis Potosi state Tuesday without saying specifically what cars it would build there.
But the United Auto Workers union has said Ford plans to shift production of the Focus compact and C-Max small gas-electric hybrid from suburban Detroit to Mexico, where the cars can be made at lower cost and more profitably.
The UAW's new four-year contract with Ford, signed last year, guarantees new vehicles for the Wayne, Mich., assembly plant in 2018 and 2020 and a $700-million investment that preserves the plant's 3,924 jobs. Union members have said they expect the factory to get a new version of the Ranger small pickup and a new small SUV called the Bronco.
continued
