Ford Motor Company has said that its production of Lincoln MKC SUV at its Kentucky plant will continue even after a tweet from U.S President-elect Donald Trump implied that it would be transferred to Mexico.
Trump later clarified that the Lincoln plant would stay in the country and is not moving to Mexico based on his conversation with Bill Ford, executive chairman of the company. The president-elect tweeted that he had "worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great state of Kentucky for their confidence in me."
Ford Chief Executive Mark Fields said that Trump's administration and his company share the same objectives. He also said he believes that the president-elect of the U.S. is pro-growth in terms of his policies, particularly in trade.
Based on the terms stated on Ford's collective bargaining with the United Automobile Workers Union (UAW), the company cannot terminate operations at any of its U.S.-based plants until 2019. The company was planning to drop the Lincoln MKC from the Louisville plant to make way for more Escapes units.
The company has been marketing Escapes in the U.S., and it has received good feedback from dealers who were asking for more units. Ford was reportedly considering transferring the production of MKC to Cuautitlan, Mexico. However, spokesperson Christin Baker said that the company had changed its plan.
Ford's production of the Lincoln MKC SUV will remain at the Kentucky plant after it was "encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States." With this, the 4,700 workers in the area are no longer in danger of losing their jobs.