CHICAGO (CBS/AP) — After a more than 30 year run, the Ford Motor Co. plant on the city’s Southeast Side will stop making the Ford Taurus, and instead focus on pricier SUVs, the company announced.
The change is part of the company’s wider plan to end most of its car production in North America and instead focus on SUVs, like the Explorer, and pickup trucks, like the popular F-150.
Exiting most of the car business comes as the U.S. market continues a dramatic shift toward trucks and SUVs. The company will no longer make the Fusion, Taurus, CMax hybrid compact and Fiesta subcompact in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The company will continue to manufacture Mustangs and a compact Focus crossover vehicle.
At the Torrence plant and the stamping plant in Chicago Heights, officials say there are no plans to cut jobs.
“We are investing heavily in Chicago Assembly Plant — for the next-generation Explorer as well as an all-new Lincoln Aviator,” Ford spokeswoman Christin Baker told the Northwest Indiana Times.
The Taurus, which first rolled off the line in 1986, was once the biggest-selling sedan in the United States.
The company made the announcement as it released first-quarter earnings. It said net income rose 9 percent due largely to a lower-income tax rate.
Ford made $1.74 billion from January through March, or 43 cents per share, compared with $1.59 billion, or 40 cents per share a year ago. Revenue rose 7 percent to $41.96 billion.
Earnings and revenue beat Wall Street estimates.
from CBS Chicago https://ift.tt/2HurAnw
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