Ford to Build European Kuga in Kentucky, Report Says
October 22, 2009
Ford Motor Co. is moving production of its small Kuga crossover from Europe to the U.S. to 
take advantage of lower labor costs and the weaker dollar, Bloomberg News reports.
Ford will shift Kuga production from Germany to Louisville, where Ford makes trucks, in October 2011, says Bloomberg, quoting three unnamed sources apparently familiar with the plans. As many as 80,000 a year will be exported to Europe.
The automaker is not confirming the report.
The news obviously leaked out as Ford is trying to entice workers with added production in the U.S. to convince reluctant workers to vote yes on another concessionary contract that more closely aligns compensation with those paid by Toyota. An analyst told Bloomberg the labor savings from Germany to the U.S. could be as much as $10 an hour.
The weakening dollar further lowers Ford's cost as the dollar has fallen 18 percent against the euro this year.
In addition, Ford plans to build and sell the same vehicles around the globe, starting with the Fiesta. The Kuga is a logical follow-on.
Editors for Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver, and AutoObserver test drove the Kuga, a Honda CR-V sized, Focus-based crossover, in Europe last fall. It is one of the European vehicles "Ford should be selling here (in the U.S.) right now," wrote Chris Walton, Edmunds.com's chief editor of road tests. "Based on the highly-regarded Iosis-X concept, the Kuga's snarky styling is refreshing in a sea of vehicles that can't decide if they're SUVs or cars," Walton added in his review. -- Michelle Krebs, Senior Analyst and Editor at Large
Photo by Ford
The Ford Kuga takes a lap at the automaker's proving grounds in Belgium.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 10:44 AM under Business , Commentary , Featured , Ford | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
A quick scan thru the Ford UK site shows the 2010 Kuga "Titanium" model AWD with a 2.5l 4 cyl.,6-speed AT starting at around $33,000US. While EU-market vehicles tend to be priced higher than their North American-market counterparts, the US Kuga looks to be moving up-market from the Escape/Mariner it is replacing; putting it in Edge/Lincoln MKX territory. And those two are thought to be slated for a redo on a new midsize Mondeo/Fusion platform around 2014.
Assuming, of course, there is a December 22nd, 2012 and beyond, fercrineoutloud. Everybody just relax.
Posted by: fulcrumb | October 22, 2009 at 6:03 PM