CEO Jim Farley on steering Ford through Trump's tariffs

[Sim_S]

It's all in the math. I build electronic systems for a living...A part I'd pay $50 for from a USA manufacturer might cost me $5.00 from India, China, etc. The US key problem is labor & benefit costs...The worker in India makes $5.00-$10.00 an hour, PERIOD, the USA workers demands health insurance, FICA taxes for retirement, Union Dues, 2-3 weeks vacation, sick pay, etc, etc.. gross pay would be $40-60 hour with all the benefits and the standard of living other countries don't have...that's not Ford's fault. A Maverick that retails for $35,000 build in Mexico would probably cost $42K to $46K and built in the USA and Ford would not sell many of them at that price, because they could not compete with other brands....the Tariffs on parts to Ford makes it even harder to make a profit. Ford and all US mfgrs are forced to increase their parts costs if built in the USA. Ford is currently in a bind with limits of Canadian aluminum import tariffs.

Ford and every other factory assemble vehicles with robots and Honda, Hyundai, etc still make their own cheap labor for components and do assembly with robots inside the USA....Vehicle manufacturers have to live off of a 6-11% profit margin....so it's all in the math.

I agree.
Not sure if low end electronics are a great example though. The US still makes many high end chips. Electronics manufacturing typically is very automated. So, biggest costs tend to be “ getting going “ and engineering. Land, permits, fees, building.
And then there are the ongoing property taxes and environmental regulations.
But, there are some right to work states ( I’m not anti union , in fact I am a member) and often states and counties will offer expedited permitting and tax breaks.
The US does not necessarily need to be a force in low end electronics, but they do need to have enough manufacturing in place already that can readily switch from high end to whatever necessary.
China has such a large monopoly in rare earth refining, that they can raise prices at will, restrict exports etc.
And if someone starts up serious competition, they can lower prices below cost if necessary, to force the competition into bankruptcy.

The US has had a 25% import tariff on light trucks since 1964. But that tariff is okay, right ?

And Ford tried to get around that tariff for a period of time by importing panel vans w/ extra seats ( claiming they were passenger vans to avoid the chicken tax ), then removing the seats upon import - and sending the seats back overseas.

They got caught.

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[Scott Asheville]

Thanos said it best. Left or right, doesn't matter. "Your politics bore me. Your demeanor is that of a pouty child."

 

[pigsareus]

"Despite building more than 80 percent of its American-sold vehicles in the U.S. – the highest share of any Detroit automaker – Ford Motor Company still imports many parts, which have been hit hard by tariffs. Ford CEO Jim Farley discusses with Kris Van Cleave why he says President Trump's tariffs, which have cost Ford $2 billion, are jeopardizing the company's investments in America – and may give an advantage to their competitors. He also explains why he drives a Chinese-made electric vehicle."

So funny when he complains about losing $2B due to tariffs while he is generally mum on Ford losing $5B a year over each of the last 3 or 4 years on HIS BIG EV disaster. Hey Farley - try to control what is 100 percent under your control and make better business decisions and try leading and not following the herd.

 

[James K]

The OP made a completely worthless thread here since he didn't even post the article he was referencing. It's explained in article why he drives a Chinese made electric vehicle. It would have made sense if the OP included that in the original post.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ceo-jim-farley-on-steering-ford-through-trumps-tariffs/

Interesting article. I personally think we're a ways away from electric cars. Farley isn't the big picture guy he thinks he is. To most people their vehicle represents freedom. We have the wrong infrastructure for that. If you built plug in hybrids, you wouldn't lose that freedom and you could work on battery range/charging systems until it becomes more viable. Also, the science of human induced climate change as the reason to move to electric cars just doesn't add up (look at actual percentages). The climate has always been changing. In fact in the last 2 months, I've seen 3 articles talking about a potential new ice age. Anyways, I know I'm not supposed to have a divergent opinion on the issue so I'll stop here but I'll take Mulally anytime.

 

[Cherokee]

The ocean temps are rising. Cuttlefish are hunting in the shallows, they dragged a diver down from twenty feet deep to 110 feet several years ago, he survived.
Normally cuttlefish fish stay below 100 feet deep.
If the ocean temps rise more the plankton will die and the food chain breaks.
Global warming, a square miles of trash floating around out there.
Let’s see what else, hmmmm

Planets several billion years old, mass extinction has happened many times,

Did you know every bottle of water you buy has an expiration date ?
I think that’s hilarious because water, all water is four billion years old. :’P

If we take care of ourselves and don’t turn into gluttonous creatures we get about 27,000 days.

Life’s just too short to sweat the big stuff.
And I’m too old to give a rats ass at this point.
I did my part.
It’s the younguns problem now.

Sing it with me boys,

‘I got little green weeds growing round my shack
I keep my money in a gunny sack,
Well I'm never going to be a millionaire
Just pass me over because I don't care,
I'll sit right back in my easy chair all day~’

Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day
Song by The Charlie Daniels Band ‧ 1972

 

[Alfetta159]

We have the wrong infrastructure for that.

When cars were first developed, there were few roads paved for cars with few rules of driving as well as no real fueling infrastructure. In other words, we had the wrong infrastructure for cars then. We slowly built and continue to build an infrastructure that accommodates our cars including ripping out public transportation networks. When conventional automobiles first became somewhat widespread, there were no interstate freeways like we have now with consistent specifications. We started having issues w/ pollution and cars changed dramatically with catalytic converters and electronic fuel injection and cars changed. Even diesel engines are very different than what we drove just thirty years ago. Cars are still changing going pHEV and EV and so that infrastructure needs to continue to change.

Also, the science of human induced climate change as the reason to move to electric cars just doesn't add up (look at actual percentages).

It's not all climate change. it's supply and pollution both exhaust and chemical. And while the planet has had more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the past, the change has never been so fast. These changes have occurred over tens of millions of years, but we have doubled CO2 concentration in about 150 years starting around the time of the industrial revolution. And population is increasing and all of us want that 'freedom'.

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