Ford Motor Co. (IW 500/4) is canceling controversial plans to build the Focus small car in Mexico, saving $1 billion by ending North American production entirely and importing the model mostly from China after next year.
The automaker will start making the next-generation Focus in China from the second half of 2019, a year after output ends at one of its plants in Michigan.
Ford will trim about $500 million in costs by shifting production to China, adding to the $500 million already saved from canceling construction of a small-car factory in Mexico earlier this year.
