Ford Kuga, Fiesta, May Come from the Americas

After posting a surprising $1 billion profit for Q3, American manufacturer Ford is trying to get over the enthusiasm and find a way to keep the numbers up. One way to do so, Allan Mulally, the company's CEO says, may be to export American-built vehicles, as already hinted early last week.

"It's all a business decision, and it's part of our plan to be flexible and be able to move up and down much easier, which allows us to support different markets," Mulally was quoted as saying by Autonews.

Although Mulally made no reference to be built in the US and than exported to Europe, the source says a plan for an US-built Kuga is being considered. The European-spec Kuga, currently produced in Germany, is to go into production in Louisville, Kentucky, starting with the next generation in 2011.

The biggest hit on the European market this year, the Fiesta, will go into production in Mexico next year, giving Ford the opportunity to ship it to Europe from South America, "if demand warrants" as John Fleming, Ford of Europe CEO said.

"The one virtue we've got with our One Ford strategy is - apart from anything which legally needs to be different - the products are the same," Fleming said. "So in any case, from anywhere, you could import and export products."

Globalization of Ford's products was one of the main reasons why the manufacturer posted profit for the last months of the year. The reasons behind shifting production to the Americas would be the flexibility of the company's manufacturing plants, as well as the weak US dollar.