Donald Trump thinks America is built Ford tough.
President-elect Donald Trump took credit Thursday for preventing a move that was never going to happen in the first place.
"Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky — no Mexico," Trump tweeted.
It was unclear exactly what he was talking about.
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While Ford has made clear the company will move production of small cars from Michigan to a plant in Mexico, there's no indication the automakers two plants in Kentucky were even in danger of closing.
"We're going forward with our plan to move production of the Ford Focus to Mexico, and importantly that's to make room for two very important products we'll be putting back into Michigan plants," Ford Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields told Reuters Tuesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show. "There will be no job impact whatsoever with this move."
Last month, Ford Motor Co. announced some temporary downtime was slated at five North American plants to cut inventory.
The car makers two Kentucky plants make SUVs and pickup trucks.
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While campaigning, Trump relentlessly targeted Ford as an example of companies exploiting the NAFTA trade deal and moving jobs to Mexico.
"Ford is leaving. You see that, their small car division leaving. Thousands of jobs leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio," Trump said at the first presidential debate.
The company announced last month that production of the Focus and the C-Max will be moved to Mexico.
The Michigan plant where the cars are currently assembled will be used for other purposes and the automaker said the move would not result in any job losses.
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Yet Trump later continued to pat himself on the back Thursday.
"I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!" he wrote.
Earlier in the day, Ford CFO Bob Shanks told investors that it was too early to assess Trump's impact on business.
"Look at how people seem to be responding, acting, now that (Trump) needs to govern as opposed to campaign. I think it’s different. So let's just wait and see," Shanks said, according to CNBC.
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Bill Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, reportedly met with Trump over the summer to talk about the real estate mogul's heated rhetoric.
Trump's "basic premise is wrong," Ford said at the time. "For over 100 years we've been in markets all over the world making vehicles. We've made vehicles in Mexico for a long time."
Meanwhile, General Motors Co. said Wednesday it will permanently lay off 2,000 hourly workers in January at two Michigan car plants as sales of small cars continue to slow.
In a statement Thursday, Ford said it will continue to engage with Trump and Congress, but was not clear about the circumstances of the call.
"Today, we confirmed with the President-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly Plant will stay in Kentucky. We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the U.S,” the company said.
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