The continuing decline of the dollar that has fallen 18 percent against the Euro this year has lead Ford to the decision to move production of its Kuga compact SUV from Europe to the U.S., or at least that is what Bloomberg reported citing three people familiar (but not named) with the plan. The news site claims that Ford will shift production of the Kuga from its factory in Saarlouis, Germany to Louisville, Kentucky in the U.S. starting from October 2011.
One of the 'insiders' told Bloomberg that as many as 80,000 examples of the Kuga a year will be exported to Europe.
Aside from making the members of the United Auto Workers union extremely happy (and the opposite for those working in Germany), Ford's move would also mean that the cool looking compact SUV would finally make its way to North American dealerships.
In Europe, Ford's VW Tiguan challenger is offered with a 200HP 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-five gasoline engine (with both automatic and manual gearbox options), and a 2.0-liter turbo diesel with 136 horsepower. However, it is very likely that Ford will add new powertrain options in the very near future as the company has already announced a new family of of 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter turbocharged petrol units.
Via: Bloomberg
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Posts
And probably the manufacturing quality will sink then ...
Right.. because the European automakers, which currently build most of their vehicles sold in North America in Europe like Ford does with the Kuga, rank so much higher in different quality and reliability surveys than their American and Canadian counterparts.. oh wait.. they don't.
Sure, beer-drinking Germans vs. hard-working Americans. You can have the German-built model, I'll take mine American thank you very much ...
"And probably the manufacturing quality will sink then ..."
Yeah, just like BMW with the X5 and X6...some people actually think they're the best.
I bet the anon poster on here who goes on about how beautiful the VW Tiguan is wetting himself.
"beer-drinking Germans vs. hard-working Americans" lol yeah right... like beer is not for sale in the US, oh BTW I am american too and I was not born in US...
Ford Kuga is crap...can´t be worse if they´re made in the USA. Oh...wait...americans don´t mind if they are surrounded by cheap plastic-parts ;)
Canadian counterparts?
Dude, there isn't any canadian automakers.
Cheers to international relations!
Enough with this "My country is better than your country" crap.
German and Italian car brands are the best in our planet: Best car brands are: VW, Alfa Romeo, Audi and BMW..
this cars has always been the best, Quality, Design, Sport Performance end economy: VW, Alfa Romeo, Audi and BMW.
All others are just ugly cheap plastic.
few raw nerves exposed here girls
It means that the European Kuga will be more expensive than now. Well done, Ford. In Spanish, we say: "La avaricia rompe el saco". 'Avaricia' means avarice, miserliness. The complete sentence means that sometimes we have to know when we must stop wanting more and more.
Magna?
Anonymous » October 23, 2009
Ford Kuga is crap...can´t be worse if they´re made in the USA. Oh...wait...americans don´t mind if they are surrounded by cheap plastic-parts ;)
What are you, a marketing dweeb from VW or Toyota? Kuga is one of the best SUVs in its class in Europe, with a great drive and a decent interior.
Question to John and everyone else:
The strength of the dollar is a perfectly understandable reason. If production were being moved here now, it makes sense; but in 2 years? By then couldn't the dollar be back up again, perhaps on par with the Euro or higher? Are they expecting it to remain weak for the next 5 years or more? Do they know something...?
JORGE
1. American build quality is inferior to some while superior to others. Japanese Accords are better put together than American Accords. That's a fact.
2. As long as we're making absurd generalizations and stupid stereotypical accusations, American, that is US [as in you and me] are as a whole great beer drinkers.
3. The X3 and Z3 [Z4?] are/were US-assembled and they are not great especially the X3.
4. The American market is less demanding as a whole when it comes to perceived quality which may or may not be the same reliability or durability. But I think they were referring to the quality of assembly, attention to detail in this respect.
JORGE
Jorge# From the very first months that the Euro became the single currency of the Euro Zone in 2002 - to be precise, from November (monthly avg) of that year and onwards, it has always been stronger than the dollar. That's seven years in a row.
Not saying that this will continue for ever and ever, but chances are, that the dollar will be weaker than the Euro two years from now. Wasn't that one of the main reasons that VW decided to build a new sedan at Tennessee?
The euro became a single currency in 1999 not 2002
It entered circulation in 2002, before that it didn't exist on paper
for shure they won't produce the same kuga. in 2011 the recent one will be old already. i guess it will be next generation global car as the fiesta is with some changes, fixing some american laws, and are producing in both countries right now
Thanks John et al.
It makes sense taking into account the dollars historical decline, as well as it will probably be the next gen Kuga instead of this one.
What I never got though from Ford was why, since the onslaught of the RAV4 and CRV, etc., started, Ford never bothered to come out with a competitor here in the US -- especially when Ford had one in Europe!
JORGE
This has "hit" written all over it!
Nice to see a fully spec'ed out model with three pedals and a stick! Ford currently only offers the stick on the stripper FWD Escape model and is not available in the higher trim lines.
for the idiot unaware, almost half of North American automobile production is in Canada.
"for the idiot unaware, almost half of North American automobile production is in Canada."
It doesn't matter. Canada doesn't have a domestic automaker, just a bunch of foreign automakers who set up shop there. That doesn't make their products Canadian any more than an Lexus RX built in Cambridge Ontario does.
Also, with the projected value of the US dollar to the Canadian dollar, you won't be seeing much auto assembly being done in Canada in the future.
I'm sorry, but Canada will have a domestic automaker, Magna (as stated, some posts earlier), taking over Opel/Vauxhall, which was part of GM.
That doesn't necessarily mean that they will be assembling Opels though, but still, they actually do have their own automaker now :)
"I'm sorry, but Canada will have a domestic automaker, Magna (as stated, some posts earlier), taking over Opel/Vauxhall, which was part of GM."
So when VW bought Skoda, did that automatically make Skoda German? What about Hummer and the Chinese?
No, despite ownership changes, Opel and Vaux are no more Canada than they are Jamacian; they remain German and English respectively.
As I understand it, a company's nationality depends [a] on where it is registered and [b] where the profits go at the end of the day. Honda has a plant in the US, but Japan takes in the profits. The same with GM in Canada, and Magna in Germany. The cars because of their native content and production may be considered American, German or what have you, but not the company.
JORGE
The dollar will continue to devalue...soon precipitously.
Catch up commentators... The Opel sale is dead.
All of this Euro/US centered provincial ('ie' Archaic, and STUPID!)...Crap, only shows your ignorance no matter what side of the pond your on. Apparently doesn't matter where your from, your still free to be stupid.
Thanks JORGE for some relief from that
This isn't CARPOOP ..it's CARSCOOP ...So quit posting your prejudiced, ignorant crap.
3Deuce27