Ford has decided against building a pair of next-generation electric crossovers in Ohio and will instead make them in Mexico.
Word of the decision came after the head of the UAW’s Ford department, Gerald Kariem, wrote a letter to workers at Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant revealing the carmaker is reneging on a promise to build a new model at the Ohio site before its current UAW contract expires in 2023.
“Unfortunately, Ford Motor Co. has decided it will not honor its promise to add a new product to OHAP and, instead, it intends to build the next-generation vehicle in Mexico,” Kariem’s letter reads. “Ford management expects us to just hang our heads and accept the decision. But let me be clear, we are making a different choice. We 100 percent reject the company’s decision to put corporate greed and more potential profits over American jobs and the future of our members. We expect the company to honor its contractual commitments to this membership and when it fails to do so we will take action.”
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It is understood that the vehicles in question are two midsize electric crossovers for the Ford and Lincoln brands. The automaker has been gearing up to produce the models since at least August 2019 and told its suppliers to prepare for an annual volume of 75,000 vehicles with production commencing in mid-2023.
Ford’s initial plan was to build the EVs in Michigan but it agreed to make them in Ohio during UAW contract negotiations in 2019. A source familiar with Ford’s plans confirmed to Auto News that the brand has now decided to make the EVs in Mexico.
Ford did not confirm the decision in a letter sent to employees on Monday but noted “conditions upon which the 2019 Administrative Letter were based have changed [and] the company is investing in the plant and increasing production of Super Duty trucks at OHAP.”
Kariem has not yet said what action the UAW will take against Ford but said “we will work through this.”
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