Ford To Build Subcompact Car In Brazil, Import to U.S.

Ford Motor will build its forthcoming subcompact sedan for the North American market in Brazil, in what is considered by some to be a risky attempt to generate profits in that segment of the U.S. market.

Ford has chosen its Sao Bernardo Assembly plant in the state of Sao Paulo as the source for the critical small car, according to officials at Ford and two automotive consulting firms - Global Insight and CSM Worldwide - briefed on the issue. The vehicle is set to launch in 2009 to 2010, said the officials who requested anonymity because Ford hasn't publicly disclosed the plan.

This is great for Brazil but what about the U.S.? Our manufacturing base is nearly gone and until we can resurrect it we can not secure our economic future. Surely these cars could have been built within the United States by opening and refitting a closed auto plant. This should be a wake up call to legislators to start really looking into the reasons that our auto industry is dying.

I was recently in Brazil and saw many small cars made by American car companies that are not available here, some with flexible technology. It would seem to be smart business for the auto industry to provide fuel efficient models like they do in Brazil. We can not compete with the lower wages of Brazil or other countries. Does that mean that we must accept the demise of our manufacturing sector?