This is not the first time that the union has complained about US manufacturers allocating new models to Mexican factories. At the end of 2019, the UAW also claimed that General Motors was due to its “lack of commitment” to building new vehicles at its US factories, and instead would have dedicates the Mexican plant in Ramos of Arezepe to produce the Blazer model. A similar claim now faces Blue Oval.
Ford was not immediately available to comment on whether the UAW lawsuits could affect its plans.
The new car that Ford assigned to Mexico would share an electric platform similar to that of the Mustang Mach-E, so, according to the manufacturer, its production at the Cuautitlán plant would “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 US Federation does not welcome Ford assigning a second car. To Mexico instead of choosing Ohio.
During labor negotiations in 2019, Ford pledged to spend $ 900 million on the plant, to renovate it for a new model that will begin construction in 2023.
“We hope that the company will fulfill its contractual obligations with this membership, and when it does not do so, we will take action,” Karim wrote in the letter to Ford that was repeated in several US media.
Ford said in a statement on Wednesday that it was 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 it at its Flat Rock, Michigan plant, but at the end of 2017, the company announced a change to its plans: to send production of its new all-electric battery-powered SUV to Mexico and focus on production. Autonomous Vehicles at the Flat Rock Collection Station. “It will allow us to create significant savings, capital and physical space,” Ford said at the time.