Ford to stop building Focus cars in South America in 2019
Ford to stop building Focus cars in South America in 2019 DETROIT — Ford Motor Co said on Monday it plans to stop building its Focus compact cars in Argentina in May 2019 as it seeks to stem losses from its operations in South America. Ford said it will continue to build Ranger compact pickups at its Pacheco plant in Argentina, which employs about 3,440 people. A spokesman said it was "too early" to say if there would be layoffs at Pacheco once the Focus ceases production, but the company was in talks with the union that represents workers at the plant. Once one of Ford's most popular models, the Focus will no longer be built in the Americas after 2019, although it is expected to continue in production in China and Europe, where redesigned versions were just introduced. Ford said South American customers, like their counterparts in North America, are increasingly choosing SUVs and crossovers over traditional passenger cars like the focus . The U.S. automak