With the Econoline passing the torch to the Transit Connect at the end of this year, Ford is in the process of moving production of the F-650 and F-750 from Mexico to Ohio in time for the medium-duty trucks' redesign for 2015.
Bloomberg reports the automaker is cutting ties with Navistar International in a joint venture based in Escobedo, Mexico to take full control of the two medium-duty trucks in their transfer to Avon Lake, Ohio, bringing the entire F-Series line — and the profits made up and down the chain — in-house as Ford's president of the Americas Joe Hinrichs explains:
We're doing this to bring the 650-750 production in-house so that we have complete design, manufacturing and engineering control over our F-series lineup. It's so critical to be able to offer our commercial customers everything from an F-150 all the way to an F-750 and to know it's built by Ford.
The relocation will preserve 1,600 jobs while honoring an agreement made between Ford and the United Auto Workers in 2011, with no added jobs or change in labor costs resulting from the move.
Hinrichs expects it will take less than the 13 weeks needed to transition the two F-150 plants from steel to aluminium-body production, with tooling from the Mexico plant already being put into place:
A lot of equipment has been going in on the fly. It's not what we would classify as a new body shop, but the investment that's being made largely is for equipment in the body shop and for tooling associated with building the 650 and 750.
The transition will occur in time for the F-650′s and F-750′s 2015 redesign, though the medium-duty trucks will remain steel-bodied.
from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA
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