Mark Fields (Ford Motor Co. photo)
Oh what a difference a victory can make.
Ford is in "constant communication" with the Donald Trump transition team, reports Mike Wayland of The Detroit News.
“We have had conversations with the transition team,” Ford CEO Mark Fields says Tuesday after a speech at a Los Angeles conference, The News says. “I’ve sent a congratulatory letter to the president-elect and we look forward to working with the new administration and the entire newly-elected Congress.”
That relationship wasn't always a lovefest.
Candidate Trump trashed Ford and criticized the company for sending American jobs down to Mexico.
Ford had announced that in 2018 it is moving production of the Ford Focus and Ford C-Max from its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to Mexico. But Ford also said that it planned to replace the products it makes in Wayne with two new vehicles, and insisted there would be no jobs lost.
Ford CEO Mark Fields said in September that "zero" jobs will be lost in the U.S. and said "it is really unfortunate when politics get in the way of the facts."
After that, Trumped followed through during the first debate in September by saying:
"Our jobs are fleeing the country. They are going to Mexico So, Ford is leaving -- thousands of jobs. Leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio. They are all leaving."
Ford quickly tweeted: "Ford has more hourly employees and produces more vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker."
