BLOG: Trump spins 'horrible' Ford news that won't go away

DETROIT (Sept. 15, 2016) — Never turn a one-day story into a two-day story.

That was the crisis-management philosophy espoused by Don Canham, a marketing genius who transformed the University of Michigan football program into a world-renowned brand and money-printing machine over 21 years as the school's athletic director.

Ford Motor Co. clearly doesn't believe in that approach.

It's managed to turn the fact that it's moving small-car production from the U.S. to Mexico into a yearlong debacle — right in the midst of the most divisive presidential election in history. Republican nominee Donald Trump has been more than willing to take the bait, repeatedly bashing Ford as traitorous during rallies and debates.

Instead of just being transparent and explaining that the shift will allow hourly workers in Michigan to have better job security by building more popular, profitable pickups and SUVs instead, Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford decided to leak its plan in drips and drabs starting in the summer of 2015. Until Sept. 14, Ford executives were inexplicably evasive about the subject every time it came up.

‘Speculation'

In July 2015, I and a number of other reporters wrote that Ford planned to move production of the Focus and C-Max from the U.S. to Mexico in 2018. Ford refused to say where the cars would be moved, even though it reportedly told the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union that the vehicles they were headed to Mexico. Last November, Ford's new contract with the UAW showed that production of nearly all cars would end in the U.S., with Mexico the expected destination. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' (FCA) deal with the UAW showed it had similar plans.

Early this year, reports indicated that Ford was planning a new assembly plant in Mexico. A spokeswoman dismissed the reports as “speculation.”

In April, the auto maker finally confirmed the $1.6 billion plant, but it wouldn't say what vehicles would be built there. UAW President Dennis Williams, who had known about the plans for at least nine months at that point, took the opportunity to publicly flog Ford for the “very troubling” move.

Poster child

And all along, Mr. Trump eagerly made Ford into a poster child for companies shipping good American jobs south of the border. He called the new plant in Mexico “an absolute disgrace.”

Only Sept. 14 did Ford, finally, confirm what anyone following the issue had known all along. “Over the next two to three years, we will have migrated all of our small-car production to Mexico and out of the United States,” Mark Fields, Ford's president and CEO, said during a presentation to investors.

Because this was the first time any Ford executive had acknowledged that Mexico is, indeed, the Focus' destination, the story went viral — again.

USA Today, Fox News, CNN, NBC News, the Daily Beast, Breitbart News and dozens of other outlets jumped on it, even though many had already reported virtually the same news months ago. “Ford moving small car production to Mexico,” read a link right in the middle of the Drudge Report, a widely read conservative news site.

Mr. Fields' statement put Ford's plan back in the news eight weeks before the election — and just hours before Mr. Trump was campaigning in nearby Flint, Mich.

“More bad news for Michigan today,” — Trump said during an appearance at a Flint church. “It was just announced that Ford is moving all small-car production — all of it, 100 percent — to Mexico over the next two or three years. This just happened. We shouldn't allow it to happen.… It's horrible.”

Overshadowed

Remember when Ford gained a loyal following of consumers who applauded its decision to decline a federal bailout and avoid filing for a taxpayer-supported bankruptcy? Now, some of those same supporters are seeing the company constantly in the news, being accused of prioritizing profits over patriotism.

Everything about this “breaking news,” as some websites labeled it, is old. Yet it's the most prominent headline emerging from the Sept. 14 investor meeting, overshadowing four hours of presentations aimed at laying out Ford's path to future success as the industry rapidly evolves.

Ford has complained about constantly being picked on by Mr. Trump, yet it keeps bringing the Mexico story back to life. If the car maker continues to get pummeled on the campaign trail over the next 55 days, it only has itself to blame.

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Reporter Nick Bunkley, who covers Ford, wrote this blog posted on the website of Automotive News, a Detroit-based sister publication of Tire Business. He can be reached at [email protected]; Twitter:  @nickbunkley