The Ford Kuga won't now be 'Made in the USA'
In a reversal of last years decision to move Ford Kuga production to Kentucky, the current weakness of the Euro appears to have kiboshed the plan.
This time last year – well, October – we reported that Ford had decided to move production of the Ford Kuga from the Ford facility in Saarlouis to Louisville in Kentucky. Which we thought was a very sensible move and could well see the Kuga taking the place of the Ford Escape in Ford’s US lineup.
One of the main reasons for the move was stated as the high costs in Europe. The Euro was strong (always going to be a transient thing) and the dollar was weak so a move made fiscal sense. But a year in currency markets is a long time.
The US is moving out of recession and the Euro is having a torrid time. We figured at the time of the announcement that Ford’s move had as much to do with building the Kuga on US soil – so Americans could be sold a ‘Domestic’ SUV – as the relative strength of the Euro at the time. After all, most see the Euro as an accident waiting to happen, and planning a big production move using the ‘Strength’ of the Euro as a premise for making the judgement seemed unlikely.
But it now seems Ford did make the decision to move Kuga production to Kentucky because the Dollar was weaker than the Euro after all. Because they’ve now decided to carry on Kuga production in Saarlouis and bin the planned production in Kentucky.
Odd.
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