Part of Donald Trump’s rise to political fame has to be credited to his Twitter account. In the past, he has expressed a lot of concern towards American branded companies who manufacture their cars in Mexico, this particular instance, however is aimed at General Motors, Chevrolet to be precise, and its manufacturing of the Cruze.
General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
GM was very quick to respond by saying that only 2,4% of Cruze sales (5 000 units to be exact) are sourced from Mexico and that the plant mainly caters for international markets. Trump’s threat to implement a border tax on the brand had its negative effects nonetheless as GM’s market share dropped by 1%, which relates to roughly $250 million (R3,4 billion).
Shortly after this, Ford announced that it would be scrapping its $1,6 billion plant in Mexico and instead, will be investing $700 million (R9,6 billion) in its current plant in Flat Rock which will in-turn create 700 new jobs.
Flat Rock will also alter its agenda to focus heavily on hybrids and EVs. Included in this announcement were plans for a hybrid Mustang and F150 bakkie.
Ford will not be ending operations in Mexico, however as it has confirmed that
