Ford willing to work with US president-elect

Ford Motor Co. was a target of Donald Trump’s criticism on the campaign trail for building cars in Mexico, and now that Trump will be president, Ford said it’s willing to work with him to keep jobs in the US — provided Trump puts the right policies in place, according to the automaker’s CEO.

“We will be very clear in the things we’d like to see,” Mark Fields said in an exclusive interview on Friday at Bloomberg offices in Southfield, Michigan. Among them, according to Fields, are currency-manipulation rules to promote free and fair trade, tax reform and safety guidelines for autonomous vehicles.

Fields said Ford planned to lobby the new president to soften US and state fuel-economy rules. They hurt profits by forcing automakers to build more electric cars and hybrids than are warranted by customer demand. “In 2008, there were 12 electrified vehicles offered in the US market and it represented 2.3 per cent of the industry,” Fields said. “Fast forward to 2016, there’s 55 models, and year to date it’s 2.8 per cent.”