Ford Will Supply U.S. with Focus Small Cars Made in China

Ford Motor Co. says by 2019 most of the Focus small cars it sells in the U.S. will come from China. Europe will later supply variants of the car.

The company will continue to produce the current-generation Focus at its Michigan Assembly plant outside Detroit through the middle of next year. The facility will then be converted to make Ranger midsize pickup trucks beginning in late 2018 and the Bronco midsize SUV in 2020.

Ford emphasizes that the changeover at Michigan Assembly won’t reduce the number of hourly jobs there. Canceling an earlier plan to move output of the new Focus from Michigan to Mexico and relocating the program to China instead will save $1 billion, according to Ford.

Separately, the carmaker is spending $900 million to prepare its truck plant in Louisville, Ky., to make the redesigned Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator large SUVs. Production of the new vehicles will begin later this year. Ford says the Kentucky plant also will supply one or both of the revamped models to 55 markets worldwide, including China.