Ford to Move Pickup Production From Mexico to Ohio

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Ford Motor Co. (F:US), which plans to cease making the Econoline van later this year, will revive the Ohio factory where the vehicle is made by investing $168 million to move pickup production there from Mexico early in 2015.

Production of Ford’s commercial F-650 and F-750 medium-duty pickups will move from a plant in Escobedo, Mexico, to Avon Lake, Ohio. Ford had operated a Mexican-based joint-venture with Navistar International Corp. (NAV:US) known as the Blue Diamond Trucking Co. The automaker is cutting those ties to take full control of production, design and engineering of its top-selling F-series pickups, Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, said in an interview.

Bloomberg Businessweek Article
 
I guess this means the Econoline Van is no more. It was the #1 selling van for as far back as I can remember.

On the bright side, good for Ford moving out of Mexico and bringing jobs back to Ohio.
 
I wonder if this will be a trend in coming years as labor costs south of the border to continue to rise.
 
not only south of the border, but China costs are rising too/

I can see only good things from changes like this
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I'll believe it when I see it, but good for Ford.

Hopefully they will not shift some other domestic product line to the freed up Mexican plant.
 
Excellent. Do this and seal the borders.

Wonder how they intend to move people with economics and ram vans gone. Will ford have a sprinter type vehicle? Will gm follow suit?

Or do they expect everyone to buy busses?
 
Full sized vans like the Econovan, were the available as anything other than cargo vans? Big box on wheels, kinda hard to beat that, if I was a contractor I'd probably want one. Its main failing being lack of a back seat, and perhaps harder to work on the engine.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Excellent. Do this and seal the borders.

Wonder how they intend to move people with economics and ram vans gone. Will ford have a sprinter type vehicle? Will gm follow suit?

Or do they expect everyone to buy busses?


Ford has the Transit Connect and they are replacing the Econoline with the full-sized Transit van. Both of them are products of Ford Europe.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Excellent. Do this and seal the borders.

Wonder how they intend to move people with economics and ram vans gone. Will ford have a sprinter type vehicle? Will gm follow suit?

Or do they expect everyone to buy busses?


LOL you have my vote on sealing the borders.
smile.gif


Contractors were a big market for the E series vans, especially when you have tools you don't want to get wet or have sliding around in the back of a Pickup bed. Even Pickups fitted with a nice cap and tool boxes don't cut it in my line of work. The little Transit can't handle the weight. Bad move IMO.
 
I don't think I've ever heard the F-650/F-750 referred to as "pickups" before. These are essentially commercial trucks, intended to compete in the class 4/5/6/7 market (hence the names).

It will be a bit of a shame to see the E-series go away, but I guess globalization is what it takes to remain competitive these days.
 
Cool beans. About 20 mins away from here. This is Ford country around here. I could practically walk there if I wanted and the weather is nice. Located very close to Lake Erie.
 
The full size transit will be form 150 to 350 with the 350 having up to a 178 inch wheelbase. Im sure it will have more room than the e series
 
I personally dislike the E-series vans-in standard form they're a lot smaller inside than the GM vans, and (IMHO) the Sprinter & new Ram (FIAT) vans are much more comfortable to work out of. I've never been thrilled with the Econoline's reliability either, the 4 company E-series ('93, '94, '04, '12) I've driven have spent a LOT of time in the dealer/shop, of course the 6.0 PSD one was the worst. Remains to be seen how the bigger Transit is going to work out.
 
The headline is a little misleading - I don't think anyone considers the F650 and 750 to be pickup trucks! Those are full fledged medium duty trucks, intended to be outfitted after they are produced.

And while its sad the Econoline is going away, it is being replaced by another full size van in the full size transit. Ford isn't leaving this market - just making a break from the past. Go check out the ford commercial truck website for info on what the replacement looks like. Looks like three engine choices - the 3.7l V6, the 3.5l ecoboost, and a 3.2l 5 cylinder inline six diesel.
 
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