Ford Announces $1.2 Billion Michigan Factory Investment After Donald Trump Teases It on Twitter

The president took to Twitter to boast about FoMoCo’s planned announcement hours before the company dropped the news.

byWill Sabel Courtney|
Ford Announces $1.2 Billion Michigan Factory Investment After Donald Trump Teases It on Twitter
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As is frequently his wont to do, President Donald Trump took to Twitter early this morning to boast about a planned announcement by Ford regarding the carmaker's factory plans.

"Big announcement by Ford today. Major investment to be made in three Michigan plants," Trump said on his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account at 6:36 a.m. D.C. time. "Car companies coming back to U.S.  JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!"

Shortly thereafter, Ford announced its plans to invest $1.2 billion in its Flat Rock Assembly Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant, and Romeo Engine Plant. The lion's share of the money—$850 million—will go to the Michigan Assembly Plant, which will be restructured to produce the new Ford Ranger starting in 2018 and the Ford Bronco by 2020. $150 million more will be invested in the Romeo Engine Plant to gear up for creating engines for those two models, while the remaining $200 million will go into building a new data center at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant as part of Ford's efforts to push into high-tech transportation ventures such as self-driving cars and electric vehicles.

"As America’s top producer of automobiles, we are proud to be going even further in our commitment to invest in manufacturing here at home,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas, said in a statement. 

The announcement comes in addition to Ford's January declaration that it would be investing a separate $700 million in the Flat Rock facility, in order to facilitate the development and production of EVs and autonomous vehicles. 

The Flat Rock and Michigan Assembly Plants currently produce the Lincoln Continental, the Ford Mustang, the Ford Focus, and the Ford C-Max, while the Romeo Engine Plant builds V8 engines and components. 

While the specifics are new, Ford's general plans have been in the works for a while. Much of the new investment was previewed in the carmaker's 2015 contract with the United Auto Workers, in which Ford promised $9 billion in investment in U.S. plants and other facilities and create 8,500 American jobs between then and 2019. 

Indeed, it was Ford's chats with the UAW that brought us confirmation that the Ranger and Bronco were returning to American shores...somewhat ironically, as a result of then-candidate Donald Trump said on the campaign trail. 

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