It’s not the first time the union has complained that U.S. manufacturers are assigning new models to Mexican plants. In late 2019, the UAW also complained to General Motors about its “lack of commitment” to build new vehicles at its U.S. factories and that it would instead have assigned the Mexican plant at Ramos Arizpe to produce the Blazer model. A similar claim to what the blue oval company now faces.
Ford was not immediately available for comment as to whether UAW lawsuits could affect its plans.
The new vehicle that Ford has assigned to Mexico will share an electrified platform similar to that of the Mustang Mach-I, so, according to the manufacturer, producing it at the Cuautitlán plant “will provide manufacturing and engineering efficiencies.”
Although Ford has invested nearly $ 11 billion in several of its North American plants, including one in Mexico and two in the United States, to produce its first electric models, the U.S. union does not see fit. eyes that Ford has assigned a second vehicle to Mexico instead of choosing Ohio.
During labor negotiations in 2019, Ford pledged to spend $ 900 million at the factory, to recondition it for a new model it would begin building in 2023.
“We expect the company to meet its contractual commitments to that membership, and when it doesn’t, we will take action,” Kariem wrote in the letter to Ford that has been replicated in various U.S. media.
Ford said in a statement Wednesday that it is committed to the Ohio plant and highlighted recent investments made in the United States.
The Mach-E was Ford’s first electric vehicle to go into production. The initial plan was to produce at the Flat Rock, Michigan plant, but in late 2017 the company announced its change of plans: to send production of its new fully electric battery-powered SUV to Mexico and focus on the production of autonomous vehicles at the Flat Rock assembly plant. “This will allow us to offer significant savings, capital and physical space,” Ford said at the time.