Mexican Ford plant workers blame Trump for dashed dreams

Cancellation of a $1.6 billion Ford assembly plant has stunned workers at the site in north-central Mexico, with many blaming U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, though the company says the decision was based on supply and demand

By Christopher Sherman, Associated Press | Associated Press – 10 hours ago

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• ricky l 0 seconds ago
  An average worker in Mexico costs automakers $8 an hour, including wages and benefits, compared to the $60 an hour that Ford said it was spending on an auto worker in the U.S. at the end of 2015. 
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• Car build in Mexico cost $20,000 for workers paid $8 an hour. 
• With $60 an hour paid to US workers, will the car cost $150,000 to American car buyers?
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  • ricky l 0 seconds ago
    I am sure when US car is exported to overseas market - no one will buy a $150,000 car when they can buy a $20,000 from Japan, Korea, Europe.
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    • ricky l 0 seconds ago
      So US car business got to shut down all the production lines for overseas market - and fired the US workers for these production lines. 
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    • US car business will only keep the production line open for US market - selling $150,000 car to US car buyers where they can buy for $20,000 previously. Do you think in long run it will work for US Economy? 
    • It will be a huge structural Economic problem for US in the medium term and in the long run.
    • • marie 11 hours ago
        Selfish Mexicans. They are taking US jobs.
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          • ricky l 0 seconds ago
            US car business should keep traditional car making to low cost source like Mexicans to manufacture traditional cars - Mexican wages is $8 per hour - car can be sold at $20,000 not $150,000 if produced by US workers. US car business should open new production plants to manufacture future proof car - such as driverless, non-fossil fuel, electric cars etc in US - and US workers are trained to manufacture this higher value added car because US workers wages is much more expensive - $60 per hour. These are the right Economic principle. Else who will buy US cars - which will become too expensive?
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          • Samuel 6 hours ago
            Let Trump destroy all American companies venturing overseas and close all trade ties with other countries and isolate America and become a cocoon. Hope he would offer employment to 25 millions to build two walls across the borders with Canada and Mexixo to stop immigration. It must be agonising that "great" America started economic globalisation decades ago to find the cheapest countries to manufacture American products. However,with a "mad dog" president-elect at the helm,the American dream is fading away faster than ever in this century.
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          • The future of car tech: getting to know you

            Sophie ESTIENNEJanuary 8, 2017

            

            View photos

            The unveiled Fiat Chrysler Portal Concept car during the Fiat Chrysler press conference at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES2017) in Las Vegas

            The car of the future doesn't just want to drive you. It wants to know you.

            The automotive technology showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show over the past week was in part about self-driving vehicles, but also about personalizing the driving experience.

            Artificial intelligence and facial recognition will allow vehicles to let you in (if it's your car), and adjust the seating, lighting, music or other elements of the environment for you, automatically.

            "The idea is to be more than a machine, to be a partner, make you happy," said Toyota's Amanda McCoy, who explained some of the innovations of the Japanese automaker's Concept-i vehicle at the Las Vegas tech show.

            The manufacturers want the car to hold a conversation, help you make a shopping list and determine where and how you want to travel.

            In a demonstration, the Toyota vehicle started a conversation and suggested potential destinations for the driver. Its camera detected that the driver was in an upbeat mood and thus suggested "the happier route."

            The concept car will also keep a driver alert to potential perils on the road, with sound and light signals. Moving to autonomous mode, it allows the seats to recline.

            Swiss-based group Rinspeed showed a prototype electric car called Oasis with a miniature garden inside.

            The vehicle with an "intelligent rolling chassis" can also operate in autonomous mode, converting its windshield into a screen for videoconferencing.

            "The interior of the car in the future will be redefined entirely, to meet different needs," said Rinspeed chief executive Frank Rinderknecht.

            Rinderknecht said the company has no plans to produce an entire vehicle but use elements of the company's technology, which could be available in a few years.

            Other technologies shown in Las Vegas could turn the car into a payments platform. Honda, for example, said it was working with Visa to allow motorists to pay directly from the vehicle for parking or refueling, for example.

            Several automakers at CES unveiled plans to move forward on autonomous driving technology. But they also showcased ways to incorporate virtual and augmented reality, use voice systems and other technology to personalize the experience.

            - Digital assistant on board -

            One part of that experience is the "digital assistant" which is making inroads in connected homes.

            Ford announced it would incorporate voice-controlled Amazon's Alexa onboard while Renault-Nissan and BMW announced plans to use Microsoft Cortana.

            Hyundai is installing sensors in its seating which evaluate posture and in seatbelts to monitor respiration. This could allow an intelligent car to know if a driver is having a heart attack or falling asleep at the wheel.

            The South Korean giant is experimenting with a number of ways to deal with different scenarios: it may use blue lights or cold air to wake up a groggy driver, or change the enviroment to calm a stressful one.

            "If we can see the mood (of the driver), we can probably do something with this information and modify the environment," said Hyundai's David Mitropoulos-Rundus.

            Even if a car is autonomous, Mitropoulos-Rundus said there will be times when a driver will need to assume control, and the automaker want a system to "re-engage him in emergency situation."