The Chevy Cavalier was assembled in six plants; five were in the US. The Cobalt was assembled in Lordstown, OH. The Cruze is also assembled in Lordstown for the North American market.
I don’t understand how the F-650 and F-750 could possibly replace the Econoline series
They’re totally different animals, not to mention the F-650 is much bigger than even an E350
It would seem the F-650 would be massive overkill for ambulance, RV, bus, etc., applications . . .
@db4690 the article states that the plant is being retooled for production of the heavy trucks after being the assembly line for the E series cargo vans which are being replaced by the Transit. From the article
For all the automaking jobs shifting to Mexico, Ford is saying today that it’s going to shift some jobs back to the USA.
Production of the 2016 Ford F-650 and F-750 medium-duty trucks will move to Ford’s Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, near Cleveland. Currently, Ford makes its medium-duty trucks in Mexico.
For just announced the new medium-duty trucks to its lineup earlier this week.
Ford plans to invest $168 million to retool the plant to make bigger trucks. The new line will replace the Ford E-Series delivery vans tha are currently made in the plant, which has been open since 1974. The E-Series is being phased out in favor of new, more efficient Transit vans.
As @OlyDoug said, Ford is just moving production around.
I understand that Ford is phasing out the Econoline series . . .
That said, what about RVs, ambulances, etc.
There’s no way in hell you can build those on a Transit platform
Just back from the Minneapolis Auto Show, and I’ve gotta say, there just isn’t much exciting out there. Most of them look pretty much the same. Paint looked good though but the massive Ford trucks and the greasy announcer just didn’t endear me much.
Jeep had an inside obstacle course but at about 2 mph as the Jeeps turned a corner, the tires squeeled like crazy as the tires scrubbed on the smooth concrete. I assume they were in 4 WD and the transfer cases were being ruined as the tires were being scrubbed along on the hard surface. I don’t know if the demo really helped their cause much.
Oh for the old days where seeing the 59 models of Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Plymouth, Edsel, Olds, Pontiac, etc. was a site to behold, causing a re-calculation of what payments could be afforded to own one.
The transit will be available (at least at some point in the near future) as a cab/chassis or cutaway model with a ladder frame. From what I can find on the ford website: GVWRs from 8,600 to 10,360 pounds… E-series offered up to 14,500lb GVWR. RV and Ambulance prep packages are planned. The E450 (RV/Ambulance chassis) was supposed to live on as part of the deal that brought the F650/750 back to US production (But the article mentioned was from 2011)
The Transit has been the staple Ford van in Europe for decades. This is just further consolidation of their worldwide vehicle lines. They had a couple of Transits at the San Francisco Auto Show last fall, showing the flexibility of possible configurations. Ugly vans, but functional.
A bit strange that their vans are shrinking while the big Sprinter has done well for Mercedes. The Nissan vans are the ones I don’t get. Being built with a truck front end the van body isn’t very roomy for the length of the vehicle. They do make a high roof model like the Sprinter, but it isn’t long enough to make much of a shuttle van and it doesn’t look like it would be popular with the delivery companies (which love the diesel Sprinter’s efficiency.)
Anyhow, I suspect Ford is going to push things like big ambulances onto these mid-sized truck chassis, leaving the Transit only for lighter duties. The little Transit Connect seems to be the loser here. I see quite a few of them as light service vehicles. Kind of neat, and the only vehicle I know of imported from Turkey.
It is quite confusing that Ford has both a Transit Connect and a Transit
Very different animals, yet a very similar name . . .
Keep in mind that Ford’s not taking a direct bailout is somewhat misleading. They WERE part of the group that went to DC and asked for the handouts. Even after choosing to not take the money, they agreed that the bailout was necessary to save the industry.
All of the Detroit Three buy their components from the same suppliers. If GM and Chrysler had gone under, the suppliers would have gone down with them. With no suppliers left, Ford would have failed as well.
In Europe, the regular Transit is just the standard commercial van, and the Transit Connect, loosely based on the Focus, is part of a class of light commercial vans we no longer have in the US, though we did until around 1970. Expensive fuel and tight city streets have kept them viable in Europe.
I would like to see them keep selling the Transit Connect in the US, but I think the perception is that they are too close in size to the smallest Transit versions. They may be right. I think the problem is that Ford has no really big van to compete with the Sprinter in the delivery/shuttle sphere. The Transit comes in a great many useful configurations, but they are no bigger than average, at most, no real competition for the larger Sprinter variants. I guess they figure they’lll take the mainstream commercial and home vans and Mercedes can have the smaller number of shuttles, big contractor vans, and big camper van conversions. Ever since I saw a high-roof sprinter I’ve wanted to design my dream camper van. Fun to dream about things like that.
I see a lot of Transit Connects in the Los Angeles area
Small businesses seem to prefer them for local deliveries
Yes, I see a lot, too. There are quite a few businesses that deliver small items and services that don’t need a lot of tools. I think Ford expects the smallest configurations of the Transit will serve the same function. It’s smaller than a typical American van, if not as simple and frugal as the Transit Connect. Oh, well, maybe they’ll get enough demand to keep selling it.
It is a convoluted story to me. First of all we taxpayers paid to have the jobs shipped out, nafta or whatever, now we are patting ourselves on the back for jobs coming home, while a new trade agreement is being decided on that is not in our best interest, imho
And that’s just one company. Several other companies are building Mexican plants and no doubt some of those cars they’ll make are now made here, though even more are currently made in Japan. Your next Mazda3 will be Mexican. The Honda Fit likewise. VW is increasing their capacity there, so the next Golf is unlikely to come from Germany. Mexico is about to pass Japan and Canada as our biggest import source.
Not to whip a dead horse again but like I said, last year I bought a new snowblower. I wanted a Toro because it was a Minnesota company, made in Windom, and a Briggs engine, made in the US. I wanted one while Briggs was still the engine and not a Chinese one. When I got it home I found out the blower was made in Mexico and the Briggs engine was made in China. I mentioned my disgust to the dealer and to Toro on their evaluation, but never heard anything except they need to stay competitive.
Would I have been willing to pay another $100, 200, whatever for that US label? You bet. I thought I already had. Yep time we wake up before we lose all our manufacturing skills and won’t know what a welder is. Yeah NAFTA was the beginning just like Perot said.
They probably want to free up the truck plant so they can build higher volume vehicles there…I doubt the number of workers building Ford vehicles in Mexico will decrease…
I have a feeling that the Transit Connect will stick around for awhile as a compact delivery van (similar to the Nissan NV200 and the larger NV) and leave the Transit to fight with the big Nissan as well as the Ram Pro-Master and the Chevy/GMC vans. The Transit Connect is closer to a cargo version of a minivan and has a niche with Floral and other delivery companies who don’t need a big van in the city.