Posted on 09/09/2018 8:42:24 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Ford won’t be moving production of a hatchback wagon to the United States from China — despite President Donald Trump’s claim Sunday that his taxes on Chinese imports mean the Focus Active can be built in America.
Citing Trump’s new tariffs, Ford on Aug. 31 said it was dropping plans to ship the Focus Active from China to America.
Trump took to Twitter Sunday to declare victory and write: “This is just the beginning. This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!”
But in a statement Sunday, Ford said “it would not be profitable to build the Focus Active in the U.S.” given forecast yearly sales below 50,000. …
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
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Watch and see!
Americans will no longer tolerate Chinese Fords.
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Ford may have already committed themselves via contract to ventures in China. Maybe Ford will chose to expand in the USA later, depending on the strength of the GOP after mid-terms.
I’d be more inclined to buy one of these because they are not made by the UAW.
Trump’s tweet lets chinese enjoy a good laugh.
The speaker of China state department claimed: (Trump’s) bravado is a sign of lack of confidence.
Yep, 100% agree. I buy Chinese baby formula too because it is cheaper. Same with pet food. /s
I used to deal with the Chinese. If there is any way to cheat they do. It is like it is a cultural value with them. No such thing as a handshake deal and if you try and engage in one count your fingers. They have false face but 0 honor. Screw the dead pets and babies. They are making money.
Oh and dealt with Taiwan too. They have both real face and honor as do the Japanese and South Koreans. Mainland Chinese are as crooked as a snake with the colic.
I lived in China for 5 years. There is not much you can tell me about China that I don’t know or believe.
You missed the point, I am not going to buy one of these cars but, because they are not UAW I might giving them a passing consideration.
The lack of business ethics by the Chinese are less offensive than the UAW.
It would be a bit easier if they didn’t make everything under the Blue Oval incompatible with regular fuel (save for detuning).
All gasoline powered cars sold in
the USA are capable of running on
“regular” fuel. Increase in octane
results in higher horsepower for
their cars and pickups. Computers
compensate for timing issues using
various octane.
I put a performance chip in my 5.0
and to maintain the factory warranty,
need to run at least 91 octane. So, I
would have to “detune” to run 87 octane.
Your Hellcat may not love regular fuel, but it will run fine if you happen to fill it with regular. It just won’t perform
at its best.
well, as usual the article’s reporting is misleading and almost useless:
but from the article there is a single fact. ford’s mgmt thinks:
1. selling 50,000 units is min for them to choose to make the car here. otherwise, they’d rather close a plant and fire all their workers and not make the car. thus, although American workers are already screwed in either case, now American consumers will be denied this car as well (we could argue that chinese goods are so substandard that that might be a sort of blessing but let’s assume not). so one would think from Ford mgmt claim that they can’t “make it” here...
but why?
analysis and deduction from one fact above:
2. from the predicate that they need to sell 50000 here to make it here, it must be that Ford could make a per unit profit here with American workers. thus current ford mgmt must have a total amount of profit or a percentage profit per unit in mind apriori that is a go no go decision for them. clearly they can predict the cost of each unit here or in cheap labor china.
3. since they would make the car in china at that 50000 number it must be that they can make the car for higher unit profit there.
4. thus ford’s profit per unit here is not enough for them. they would rather kill a particular line of cars (i.e., that business) here rather than make a profit with American workers in this case.
5. ford mgmt therefore must have set a min acceptable (to them) profit on the whole number of cars they think they can sell here. thus they have a minimum return on investment that they believe must achieve, otherwise, it’s not worth it to them to lift a finger here.
well, if i’ve got that right (this is quick reasoning on a single fact, maybe there’s something i haven’t judged right or don’t know), now the question is why? why do they believe that?
could it be that they can command the highest stock prices and lowest interest on loans if the make the maximum profit in china? perhaps they want to maximize ford’s profit (and thus their personal profit and stocks) while minimizing the companies risk and investment and thus cover their own butts with minimal risk themselves. that is, minimize both short term and longer term risk (American worker benefits).
but they love the upside of selling into American markets. they want to make a kingsize profit off American consumers, while giving nothing to American workers.
but...
American workers == American consumers
given my analysis from the one fact in the article, i have some questions for you—current Ford mgmt:
1. does greed for maximum alone rule you? otherwise. will you punish both American workers and American consumers even though you could make money here, just not enough money?
2. does short term gain rule you? do you care nothing about the fact that unemployed American autoworkers will have no money to buy your chinese cars, eventually?
3. does highest monetary profit have to trump all possible profits?
i say crank up the tariffs on any car Ford tries to import here, Mr. President. single them out.
I am with you. 100% tax on all Chinese made Fords. Hell, 100% tax on any car from China.
Thanks to the UAW, Detroit loses money on small cars. Importing them from China might be profitable, because of labor cost differences. But the only way small car production resumes stateside for Detroit’s Big 3 is if the UAW is decertified. Which is to say, never. Toyota can make small cars here because it’s not a UAW shop. If it were, Toyota wouldn’t make them here.
[does greed for maximum alone rule you? otherwise. will you punish both American workers and American consumers even though you could make money here, just not enough money?]
True. They don't perform well once you burn a hole in a piston from pre-ignition caused by running the wrong fuel. Octane prevents detonation. It is not a horsepower enhancer by itself. It simply allows one to run higher compression with more advanced timing. There are limits to how far a car computer can dial it back. Use the wrong fuel for long and you will be buying a set of pistons.
huh?
What about the Chinese Buicks ?
I can see commercials where other manufacturers of similar vehicles show Chinese Fords insulated with Chinese drywall and warnings about how that drywall has been proven toxic...and maybe add a sound bite or two about pets kicking the bucket from Chinese pet food.....the list goes on....
“I used to deal with the Chinese. If there is any way to cheat they do. “
Exactly ! People hit the roof when I say this. I took business culture courses on all of Asia and I walked away with one most important lesson:
Don’t. They are all horrible, horrible people.
I cannot locate a price for the Ford Focus Active although photos of the 2020 model exist. But let’s suppose it is 20K. With a tariff of 25% one would pay 25K. In the competitive auto environment, that is a killer. Ford can talk bravely, but if Trump hammers China it will break.
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