Playing Politics With Auto Manufacturers

I’ve long championed that government should not be in the truck building business.

- G.R. Whale

By extrapolation, if the government gets involved, the resulting vehicles would be highly inefficient, prone to dysfunction, bloated, and any shade you want so long as it’s gray, khaki, white, or olive drab. As of writing (between the presidential election and inauguration), no one knows what’s coming next, but the president-elect has already stuck his nose into manufacturing—automotive and other—where some would rather leave business to business.

It began with Ford mentioning it might move Lincoln MKC production to a Mexico factory—with no loss of U.S. jobs—to make room for new products, an idea first floated in 2015 to happen in 2019. During the campaign, this announcement got spun along the lines of closing an assembly plant in the U.S. Ford never said anything about closing any plants—the UAW probably wouldn’t let them under the current contract—only moving MKC to make room for more Escape production, a vehicle that’s ultimately more valuable for the company.