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Donald Trump Wants Ford to Build Focus Active in The U.S.

As you already know, the Ford Motor Company isn’t happy with President Trump over the trade war with China. The 25-percent import tariff is a pain in the you-know-what for General Motors as well, which could stop offering the Buick Envision and Cadillac CT6 Plug-in Hybrid if push comes to shove.
Donald Trump and Mike Levine on Ford Focus Active 27 photos
Photo: screenshot from Twitter
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Turning our attention back to Ford, the plan was to replace the current-generation Focus sedan and hatchback with the all-new Focus Active. The Blue Oval would’ve liked to bring the car from China, but that scenario didn’t work out for the automaker because of the showdown with Xi Jinping.

Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford in North America, declared that resources would be deployed elsewhere in order to minimize the impact of this unfortunate development. In spite of the damage done by Trump, the President tweeted: “This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!”

Product communications manager Mike Levine begs to disagree, tweeting back: “It would not be profitable to build the Focus Active in the U.S. given an expected annual sales volume of fewer than 50,000 units and its competitive segment.” To bring the point home, the official also made it clear that Ford employs more U.S. hourly workers than any other automaker.

Regardless of which side you prefer, the loser of this whole trade war is the automotive industry. But even still, life moves on even in the most adverse state of affairs. Instead of the Focus Active, the Ford Motor Company will roll out the Baby Bronco in the United States, slotting right above the India-built EcoSport and compact-sized Escape.

The crossover, which could bear the name Maverick in production flavor, is expected to borrow the C2 modular vehicle architecture from the Focus Active. Front- and all-wheel drive, turbocharged three- and four-cylinder engine choices, a bit of ground clearance, looks that would make even the Jeep Renegade blush, what more could you want from the Baby Bronco?

An RS high-performance model wouldn’t be bad, though it remains to be seen if Ford can make a case for such an option. Nevertheless, one can only dream of shoehorning the 2.3-liter EcoBoost in the engine bay, mild-hybrid assistance or not.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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