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BEIJING (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. said its newest joint-venture factory in China began operations Monday and will produce small cars under the Ford and Mazda brands for the fast-growing Chinese market.
The US$510 million (euro360 million) factory in the eastern city of Nanjing will have an initial production capacity of 160,000 vehicles per year, Ford said. It said that would increase Ford's annual production capacity in China to 410,000 vehicles.
Ford Starts Production at China Plant: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance (broken link)
Just as long as Ford makes em in China, and SELLS them to the Chinese. If Ford starts making them in China and trying to bring them over here to sell, I'd be very pissed off.
Not that I buy Ford junk, but the fact that Chinese would be taking jobs of American workers.
So, are Americans taking Japanese jobs by building Toyotas, Hondas, Mitsubishis and Nissans here? Are we taking German jobs when we build BMWs here? Are the people at the Nestle plant in Wisconsin taking Swiss jobs? Are the people at LaSalle Bank taking Dutch jobs? Are the people at BP in Chicago and Naperville taking British jobs? Are the teamsters driving Hanjin cargo trucks taking Chinese jobs? Do you drive an American car? If so, are you sure it was built here and not in Mexico or Ontario? Are you sure it's not a rebadged Opel from Germany, or a rebadged Holden from Australia, or a reskinned Mazda?
The point is, it's a global market today. That water's over the dam and it's never coming back, so get used to it and adjust accordingly. It also means we have both outsourcing and insourcing. You can't have one without the other, and it would be hypocritical to reap the benefits of one while decrying the other.
I too have a big problem with this. I have always bought American cars and trucks and always will. If the benefits of this so called 'free trade' are so great, why is there such a massive trade deficit, especially with China. Can you imagine how many jobs could be created in this great country if that money stayed here. But of course that would mean less money in the pockets of the upper income earners - can't have that. And poor Walmart, won't meet the next quarters financial predictions for the wall street types.
It would really be fitting if the people who make these decisions to outsource American jobs to low wage countries were held accountable and had to be the victims of their decisions instead of some poor middle class guy at the bottom.
I too have a big problem with this. I have always bought American cars and trucks and always will.
There is no such thing as American cars and trucks. Parts are globally sourced for ALL vehicle manufacturers and several vehicles branded as domestic actually have a higher foreign made parts content than many "imports". Ford, Chrysler and GM have manufacturing plants in Mexico and Canada for no other reason than cheap labor. This is what takes away from American jobs. Check the VIN on your vehicle. Unless it starts with a 1, 4 or a 5 its not made in the US.
BEIJING (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. said its newest joint-venture factory in China began operations Monday and will produce small cars under the Ford and Mazda brands for the fast-growing Chinese market.
The US$510 million (euro360 million) factory in the eastern city of Nanjing will have an initial production capacity of 160,000 vehicles per year, Ford said. It said that would increase Ford's annual production capacity in China to 410,000 vehicles.
Ford Starts Production at China Plant: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance (broken link)
I wonder if they will be checked for lead content and choking hazards.
I agree. "American" cars are an advertising campaign, not a reality. They are built with parts from all over the world. I think it's great that Ford is expanding into China. The Big Three have been getting their butts kicked for a long time now. I was reading an article in the economist magazine about the GM labor strike that said:
Millions of foreign-badged vehicles pour off assembly lines in America. Nissan, Honda and Toyota produce well over half the vehicles they sell in North America in situ. Wages at these mainly non-union plants are far lower than for Detroit's “Big Three”. There are many reasons for the gap, including costly pension schemes for massive numbers of retired workers. But nothing is more troubling than health care. Over time UAW has hammered out a system of coverage for both current and retired workers that, by some estimates, adds up to $2,000 to the cost of every vehicle that Detroit produces.
By one estimate, the labour gap between GM and Toyota swallows up enough cash to pay for four new-model programmes each year for the American firm. And spending to develop cars that Americans want to buy is vital if GM is to reverse its decline.
So doesn't it make sense to offshore your manufacturing? Americans treat Ford and GM as if it is their responsibility to provide jobs to Americans. In reality, it is their responsibility to produce cars that can compete globally, price-wise, which they are failing to do.
Last edited by anonymous; 09-27-2007 at 07:37 AM..
I too have a big problem with this. I have always bought American cars and trucks and always will. If the benefits of this so called 'free trade' are so great, why is there such a massive trade deficit, especially with China. Can you imagine how many jobs could be created in this great country if that money stayed here. But of course that would mean less money in the pockets of the upper income earners - can't have that. And poor Walmart, won't meet the next quarters financial predictions for the wall street types.
It would really be fitting if the people who make these decisions to outsource American jobs to low wage countries were held accountable and had to be the victims of their decisions instead of some poor middle class guy at the bottom.
I don't buy American cars because I have yet to find one I either like or that is in my price range that is actually BUILT here. I bought a Hyundai Sonata, but it was built in Alabama. I see it as being no different.
I think most American cars are crap. I bought my last American car about 17 years ago. It fell apart, and I never went back. American cars are made to fall apart, piece by piece, year by year. Before 5 years they are done, just like a good slow roasted pot roast, falling apart.
I have two Toyota Land Cruisers. One has 400,000 miles on it. That's right, FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES. Try that with a Ford or GM product.
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