Ford to Move Pickup Production From Mexico to Ohio

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Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Also, the F-450 through 750 trucks are cab & chassis trucks-a pickup bed could probably be put on one, but they don't come that way.


You can get the F-450 with a bed. A co-worker has one, F-450 crew with duallys. Looks just like a F-350.
 
I saw the new transit and Fiat vans at a car show lately. They are HUGE compared to the old traditional american vans. The Ram was open and the low rear load floor allowed me to stand in the cargo area and clear my head (I am 6'4"). I am not sure how the van customers will like these Euro vans, but I guess there is still the old GM vans on the market for now.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
The headline is a little misleading - I don't think anyone considers the F650 and 750 to be pickup trucks! Those are full fledged medium duty trucks, intended to be outfitted after they are produced.

And while its sad the Econoline is going away, it is being replaced by another full size van in the full size transit. Ford isn't leaving this market - just making a break from the past. Go check out the ford commercial truck website for info on what the replacement looks like. Looks like three engine choices - the 3.7l V6, the 3.5l ecoboost, and a 3.2l 5 cylinder inline six diesel.


You can get F650's with beds they compete with the GM Topkick in the silly pickup segment.

As an interesting side note due to our countries silly diesel emissions for the first time in years large gas engines in this case Ford's V10 are making a comeback in light and medium duty trucks.

For utilities and municipalities its cheaper to pay for the gas than deal with diesel regens for around town trucks.
 
Originally Posted By: webfors
I wonder if this will be a trend in coming years as labor costs south of the border to continue to rise.


...and labor costs north of the border stagnate. Lots of UAW worker in the $19-$20 range, less than 40 hours of assembly time per car.....labor is just not that material these days.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I guess this means the Econoline Van is no more. It was the #1 selling van for as far back as I can remember.

On the bright side, good for Ford moving out of Mexico and bringing jobs back to Ohio.



The transit is replacing the econoline, and will be built iirc in Kansas City.
 
Hatterasguy - F650's with pickup beds do exist. They are not made that way by Ford however - you have to either do the work yourself (ie: buy a F650 Chassis and do your own upfitting) or have an upfitter do the work. There are plenty of upfitters out there.

Don't confuse that with Ford making an F650 pickup.
 
I think Ford leaving Escabado has more to do with Navistar crowding them out at the plant as Navistar is ramping up there.

The new Transit vans are going to be very much like the Sprinter vans which until now at least were the best vans in the market.
 
Yes, in the USA we currently only get the small version of the Transit, Europe has several versions I also believe that one of Ford's larger size European vans is a VW product that Ford brands under license.
 
Hopefully this will catch on with all businesses...maybe the industry is finally realizing Americans don't like all of their products being made in foreign countries?
 
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This started with makers in Japan years ago starting to build plants in the USA because of off shore costs continuing to rise. Shipping costs are not going down.

Wages in the USA are declining is perhaps one major factor that makes moving production back state side make sense to the accountant types.

It is hard to compete against a guy working for $3 per hour net cost when the net cost for a USA worker doing the same job is $45 per hour.

I read this last week where over the past few years the USA average family income has decrease by $4K annually.

These who have been working to lowering USA standard of living are seeing real success it seems.
 
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Two factors are at play here:

1. Energy costs and as a result shipping costs are continuing to increase.

2. Modern vehicle production requires fewer man hours so labor the percentage of labor in a new vehicle is being reduced.

Throw in vastly increased US energy production and a glut of cheap natural gas which will be turned into cheap electricity and you have a perfect storm if you will for a resurgence of manufacturing in this country.

The shine of outsourcing is wearing off.
 
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Are the larger Transits front wheel drive, uni-body construction like the Connect? Building Fords in the US? What a concept.
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Originally Posted By: andyd
Are the larger Transits front wheel drive, uni-body construction like the Connect? Building Fords in the US? What a concept.
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The larger transits are RWD or AWD, in Europe the Transit family is actually based on two different frames depending on what you want. They're very nice vans.
 
I started in the building trades union (Millwright #1871) in 1973. My first job was in the Avon Lake plant putting in the conveyor systems and other equipment to build the van bodies. The plant was a former Fruehauf trailer manufacturing facility.

Only the van bodies were assembled and painted, and then shipped via special equipped trucks to the Ford Lorain Plant where they were assembled and driven off the line. The trucks used to transport the bodies could hold seven if I recall. I installed some of the conveyor into the trucks to carry the bodies.

At one time Ford was going to build their own private roadway between the two plants because of the height of the special trucks used. Some type of agreement was made with the state of Ohio and the trucks were able to use the public road.

I did work in the Lorain plant also, and over the years installed conveyor for the Thunderbird, Cougar, and the E-vans which were built there.

Avon Lake grew, and at one time they also built the Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest in a different building. I retired in 2006. My last job was at the Avon Lake Plant putting in a new line for the E vans which were moving there after the Lorain plant shut down.

I spent many holidays in those plants for shut down work which had to be done while the Ford employees were on leave. Christmas, Thanksgiving, July 4th, Memorial day, etc.


Great to see Ford coming back to Ohio and the communities where they have been for decades.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Two factors are at play here:

1. Energy costs and as a result shipping costs are continuing to increase.

2. Modern vehicle production requires fewer man hours so labor the percentage of labor in a new vehicle is being reduced.

Throw in vastly increased US energy production and a glut of cheap natural gas which will be turned into cheap electricity and you have a perfect storm if you will for a resurgence of manufacturing in this country.

The shine of outsourcing is wearing off.


I agree re:logistics. Most of the vans will end up in service in the USA, so dramatically reducing needless logistics via freight train can offset any increased domestic operating costs.
 
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