Trump, when he was a presidential candidate, was assaulting Ford for many of its policies. You could hear him say this and you could read about in the countless articles that spoke about how Trump was lambasting Ford this time around.
It was felt that Ford was getting the wrath of Trump’s attention for the various efforts the company had made such as investing heavily in factories and operations in Mexico. But it made sense and Trump even knew it since high taxes and onerous regulations passed by the Democrats pushed jobs and businesses overseas. Trump had jobs overseas himself so he knew firsthand that America was being tough on business much to its own detriment.
On the other hand, GM seemed to stay out of the limelight despite them taking a bailout! It was probably also because of the cautionary steps that the latter adopted to ensure that no sudden moves made headlines last year.
Facts
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It was felt that Trump’s attack on Ford’s efforts in Mexico was biased as both automobile giants have similar investments in Mexico. However, Trump attacked Ford repeatedly in his speeches that he gave during his presidential campaign than to point out actual facts.
Ford then started advertising about the investments they had made in America, and the focus has now come on GM that has been issuing notices for laying off workers in its factories in Ohio and Michigan.
This incident happened at the time when Trump took over Obama's office which will happen officially on Jan. 20th. Even though it did not seem that Ford would turn away from its Mexican expansion plans, the company has definitely taken a u-turn and showcased its plans to set up fresh operations in Michigan.
Twitter Again
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When the business world was busy taking in the news of a $16 billion Mexican investment being cancelled by Ford in order to add on about 700 more jobs in its Detroit operations, it also tweeted on the operations of its rival to Trump.
Trump promptly took up the lead and tweeted to his multi-million follower base that GM was importing Chevrolet Cruzes that were made in Mexico. He even threatened that this might instigate a border tax to be imposed if the production was not moved back to the US. Trump is for real. He does not just talk the talk, he walks the walk. Trump means what he says. Now this is fantastic but most Americans are waiting for the hefty tax cut to come that Trump has spoken about before as well but this is another topic though.
With the timing of Ford's efforts on making investments in the US and the leakage of such information against GM, it was definitely a well-planned decision on Ford’s part to turn the president’s attention to its rival company’s operations. And this is a company in GM that took a bailout and who owes America $16 dollars! Some people believe GM should not even exist.
Ford does it Right
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However, as with most of Trump’s expositions, this particular tweet on Chevy also points out to more facts that are still in the dark. For instance, GM sells more Trax models in the US that are Mexican made than Cruze. The Cruzes that are built in Mexico and sold in the US are only about 4,500 while the Trax models were about 80,000 last year in US sales.
The reason why the sale of Cruze was targeted for the attack was probably because the inventories of this model increased soon after Trump was inaugurated when GM was busy cutting down jobs in its American factories. This showcased a nefarious move on the part of the US automobile manufacturer who was increasing its operations in Mexico at the same time.
GM on the Wrong Side of the 8-Ball – Again!
However, GM is clearly presented with a problem. Even with such facts coming in the limelight, the company will not be able to move production of the hatchback model back to Ohio.
The volumes are low for this model and it would not make sense economically for the company to move operations and incur extra costs for the same model to be built out of its US factory. Ford on the other hand, seems to be playing right along Trump’s line and therefore America’s.