Ford to Move Medium-Duty Production to U.S.

Ford says it will move production of its F-650 and F-750 medium-duty trucks from Mexico to the U.S. following strong ratification of a new contract by members of the United Auto Workers union.

The switch will take work done by Navistar International employees in Escobedo, Mexico, and give it to Ford's UAW members in Avon Lake, Ohio. Also going there are Ford's F-59 stripped van chassis and its F-51 motor home chassis. The popular E-series vans now built there will be phased out.

These are among the results of a new four-year contract just ratified by UAW members, which Ford says will add 12,000 manufacturing jobs in four cities in the U.S. Ford says union members voted 2-1 in favor of the new contract.

The contract will also see UAW members begin building the European-style full-size Transit van at its plant in Kansas City, Mo., in 2013. The Transit will gradually replace the E-series van, which will be phased out over the rest of this decade, Ford said. It already sells the compact Transit Connect, which is built in Turkey, in North America.

Current F-650 and F-750 models use Ford cabs and Cummins ISB diesels on Navistar chassis. Ford isn't saying what it will use for a chassis, or if other components will change.

But it will end the 10-year-old Blue Diamond joint venture under which Navistar has built the Ford mediums at Escobedo. This is a logical outcome of the soured relations between the two companies since the dispute over the PowerStroke diesel and Ford's going its own way with its own engine.

The E-series has been the best-selling full-size van in the U.S., so its Transit replacement will have big tracks to fill. In Europe the Transit uses small, fuel-efficient powertrains, and some of these are likely to be employed here.