Donald Trump had a lot to say about jobs at his first presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, and Ford once again found itself in his crosshairs. It’s nothing new for Trump—he’s targeted Ford in speeches and debates before—but this time Ford was having none of it.
During the jobs discussion, Trump let loose on the automaker:
So Ford is leaving. You see that, their small car division leaving. Thousands of jobs leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio. They’re all leaving. And we can’t allow it to happen anymore.
But we have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States and, with it, firing all of their people.
Shortly after Trump’s heated claim, Ford itself decided to set the record straight via Twitter.
https://twitter.com/Ford/status/780575817478840322
But just because Ford has more U.S. workers than any other car company, that doesn’t necessarily mean Trump’s claims were incorrect, right? That’s just what many Twitter users alleged, which prompted Ford to respond directly to the claims.
There is no impact on US jobs. Ford’s American workers will build 2 new vehicles at the US plant where small cars are made today.
— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) September 27, 2016
Ford is indeed shifting its small car division to Mexico, but it not to kill U.S. jobs. The company notes that those same U.0.S workers will be working in the exact same U.S. plants, but they will simply be building different vehicles. In fact, two brand new vehicles are slated to begin production in those plants starting in 2018, which is precisely the time the company’s small car division will complete its transition.
H/T Jalopnik