Ford CEO: Trump got facts wrong

by Nikita Vladimirov - 09/15/16 3:35 PM ET

The CEO of Ford Motor Company on Thursday responded to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s criticism of the company by reassuring that Ford’s commitment to U.S. markets “has never been stronger.”

“It’s really unfortunate when politics get in the way of the facts, and the facts are Ford’s investment in the U.S. and commitment to American jobs has never been stronger,” Mark Fields said in an interview with CNN.

{mosads}The response came after Trump publicly slammed Ford for planning to open new factories in Mexico and laying off American workers. However, Fields said those claims are unsubstantiated.

“We have created more than 28,000 jobs in the U.S. in the last five years, we’ve invested more than $12 billion dollars, we produce more vehicles here in the U.S. than any other automaker by far and we employ more hourly workers here in our plants more than any other automaker by far,” Fields said.

When asked if Ford will cut “any single one” job as a result of their plan to expand into Mexico, Fields replied “absolutely not, zero.”

“What we announced is that we will be moving our focus out of Michigan so that we can compete more financially in that particular segment.”

Fields also added that their foreign operations will ultimately result in a positive effect on Ford and give the company more opportunities to continue domestic investment.

The Republican nominee on Thursday also threatened to impose a 35 percent tariff on cars that are imported from Mexico so that Ford “will never leave [the U.S. market] in a million years.”

In response to the threat, Fields said that Ford will work with any administration but may be persuaded to stay in the U.S. if the government simplifies tax codes and provides a “level playing field when it comes to trade agreements.”

Tags Donald Trump