Ford CEO responds to Trump: ‘Facts are stubborn things’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is getting called out for suggesting he helped convince Ford to move jobs from Mexico back to Ohio. So it looks like before Trump even gets elected, his business experience as a tough negotiator and deal maker made one of the largest automakers in the world change its mind.

Kasich countered that the decision was years in the making.

“Do you think I will get credit for keeping Ford in U.S. Who cares, my supporters know the truth. Think what can be done as president!” A few days ago, apparently citing a blog post that gave him credit for pressuring Ford to open up new operations in Ohio, Trump started claiming credit for the company reversing itself. Working as a TEAM, we brought Ford production jobs back from Mexico to Ohio years ago.

On Monday, The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Chrissie Thompson, who said she covered the auto industry in Detroit in 2011, published a point-by-point takedown of Trump’s claims about Ford. The UAW also praised the move.

“Ford has not spoken with Mr. Trump, nor have we made any changes to our plans”, the company said in a statement.

“Our country needs real leadership and not empty, false rhetoric”, Kasich’s campaign said in an email statement. Trump said in the tweet, a reference to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential rivals Ben Carson and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

However, that’s not quite all to the story.

Ford, which produced 331,249 vehicles in Mexico from January to September, is maintaining a program announced in April to build an engine plant in the northern state of Chihuahua and a transmission factory in the central state of Guanajuato, Lopez said.

The announcement, which will take place at Ford Motor Co.’s Ohio Assembly Plant’s administrative Building in Sheffield Lake, will include information about Ford’s investment commitment and future product plans for the plant.

In March, GM announced that it would plow $350 million to produce the next generation of the popular Chevrolet Cruze into its plant in Coahuila, part of $5 billion targeted for south of the border in 2014. But the campaign won’t say which one.