Bloomberg reports that Ford will not build its Kuga compact crossover at its Louisville, KY plant due to the falling Euro and UAW recalcitrance. According to the report
The promise of Kuga production in Louisville began to fall apart in November when UAW members rejected Ford’s request to match givebacks it gave General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. Ford’s U.S. rivals, which each reorganized in bankruptcy last year, were granted a six-year freeze on wages for new hires and a ban on some strikes until 2015… The euro has fallen 14 percent against the dollar since Ford reached a tentative deal with the UAW in October to build the Kuga in Louisville alongside its mechanical twin, the Escape. At the time, the dollar had declined against the euro, lowering the cost of U.S.-made goods. Since then, the euro has dropped amid concerns Europe’s debt crisis may trigger another recession.
Barclays analyst Brian Johnson explains
This is a reminder to the UAW that Ford’s U.S. cars don’t have to be produced in the U.S. Ford’s global architecture allows them to build anywhere. That’s good news if the U.S. has competitive labor costs. It’s bad news if they don’t
Tagged as Compact Crossover, Europe, Ford, Future Vehicles, jobs, Kuga, production, Union News
Recent Comments
W.Minter - +1 (except mls/km ;)) The XL1 shows the truth about vw engineering. They need more than 10 years to develop a 250 units halo car no one will ever buy...
jimbob457 - As you are from the Great White North we feel for you in our hearts, but we also are so sad. We weep for you and all your dreadful issue....
jimbob457 - Or if owning the little brute of a real Porsche 911 frightens you, buy a new dick.
PCP - Why should anyone want a specific iStuff connector? And which one, old or new? Look at the numbers first: http://techland.time.com/2013/ 04/16/ios-vs-android/...
Summicron - “Don’t you think it is odd that not one foreign car maker builds in Japan…?” What an excellent elephant-in-the-room question. But...
Scoutdude - You whipersnappers tuning your carbs with WBO2s, back in the day we new how to read spark plugs to see how the mixture was. Idle mixture...
CamryStang - Nobody mentioned VW’s “Unpimp Ze Auto” series?
porschespeed - As there’s Beetles running in the mid-8s, you might want to ignore the illiterati…
porschespeed - EFI “took off” in the early 70s. It was not a “black art” it just required tools that cost serious $100s of Ks...
porschespeed - Uhh… the ‘tuner’ crowd is still there in the hundreds of thousands. And guys still ride bikes like idiots on public...