The writer, a Los Angeles freelancer and former Detroit News business reporter, writes a blog, Starkman Approved.
By Eric Starkman
Ford CEO Jim Farley has reaffirmed my perception of how some chief executives ascended the ranks of publicly traded companies. Months after declaring that President Trump’s tariffs would “blow a hole” in the U.S. automotive industry, Farley now positions himself as a staunch supporter of the administration’s trade policies.
CEO Jim Farley
Let’s hope Farley remembers to leave a polished apple on President Trump’s desk during his next White House visit. Perhaps he can regift one of the many he has likely received from his legions of fawning U.S. auto writers.
Farley on Wednesday called on rival automakers to match Ford's U.S. production levels, arguing there would be another 15 assembly plants, 4 million more vehicles produced and half a million more manufacturing jobs in the United States.
"We must keep working until those 15 new assembly plants are built in our country by our competitors," Farley said. "That's hundreds of billions (of dollars). Or will it be we absorb it (the tariffs), and our government helps us, or do we pass on the price onto the customers and the industry shrinks?"
Farley claims that 80% of the vehicles Ford sells in the U.S. are manufactured domestically. That’s possibly true, but the claim is deceptive.
Ford proudly manufacturers the electric version of its iconic Mustang in Mexico, where it also builds its red-hot Maverick pickup and Bronco Sport crossover. And when the parts Ford uses to build its U.S.-made vehicles are taken into consideration, Ford’s vehicles aren’t that much more red, white, and blue than those of GM, Mexico’s largest vehicle manufacturer.
Ford And GM Missing
Cars.com every year publishes its rankings of the most American-made vehicles. The rankings aren’t based solely on where a vehicle is manufactured, but incorporates other critical considerations such as parts content, engine and transmission origin, and U.S. manufacturing workforce. More than 400 vehicles from the 2024 model-year were analyzed to qualify for the top 100 list.
Honda and its luxury Acura brand captured nine of the top 20 spots, Toyota and its luxury Lexis division captured four, and Tesla had three. VW’s electric ID.4 was the third most American-made vehicle, while Amsterdam-based Stellantis’ Jeep and Dodge divisions each captured individual spots.
The number of Ford and GM vehicles that made the top 20?
Zero!
Moreover, if I were Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who professes a fondness for “good-paying” manufacturing jobs, I’d prefer that Ford return to Michigan the even better-paying engineering jobs the company has moved to Mexico. While the exact size of Ford’s engineering workforce south of the border is unclear, it reportedly represents the largest in Latin America. In 2022, Ford opened a $260 million campus to house all its Mexican engineering workers.
The trade publication Ford Authority previously reported that Ford’s engineering operations in Mexico experienced a 900 percent growth in personnel from 2010-2022. The publication said Mexican engineers were “significantly involved” with the Ford Bronco Sport, with over 70 percent of its engineering done in Mexico.
Nine Mexican engineers worked on instrument panels for the 2022 Ford Expedition and 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning. The Detroit News reported that the 22% of the 2025 Ford Expedition’s parts content is sourced from Mexico.
“Ford Mexico’s Engineering Center has evolved so much in recent years that we have become a fundamental arm for the company’s global projects,” said Marcos Pérez, former director Product Development at Ford of Mexico. “For many years, we thought that Mexican talent was mainly related to manufacturing, but today, we have shown that we are equally or more valuable (emphasis mine) than the design engineers in countries like Germany, Australia or the United States.”
Ford also has a growing salaried workforce in India, where it employs 12,000 workers supporting its global business operations and has publicly committed to adding as many as 3,000 more employees within three years. Last fall, Ford announced it would resume manufacturing in India for export purposes.
GM CEO Mary Barra (GM photo)
Meanwhile, GM CEO Mary Barra revealed on CNN that President Trump’s tariffs will cost GM “up to” $5 billion this year, unintentionally making clear that GM can easily afford to absorb the costs without passing them on to consumers.
Stock Buybacks
GM in 2024 spent $16 billion on stock buybacks to boost its share price and had planned to spend an additional $6 billion more on its share manipulation program this year. Stock buybacks typically boost the value of individual shares because they reduce the number outstanding. GM’s buybacks worked their magic, allowing Barra to sell a big chuck of her holdings for more than $80 million.
The justification for stock buybacks is they make good use of excess capital that CEOs supposedly don’t know what to do with. Trump’s tariffs provided Barra with an alternative use of GM’s excess capital, one that would be more beneficial to U.S. and Michigan taxpayers the automaker has mooched billions from over the years.
An intrepid reporter might ask Barra the cost to GM for its massive recall of its most profitable trucks because of potentially defective engine issues. Perhaps if Barra had used some of her stock buyback money to hire more engineers and quality control persons, GM wouldn’t be having issues with a technology the company pioneered more than a century ago.
Farley and his rival, GM CEO Mary Barra, often tread close to the line in their public statements. If they spoke with greater honesty and integrity, I am confident it would lead to a dramatic improvement in the quality of the vehicles they sell, and their employees would enjoy considerably more job security and better bonuses.
Farley was awarded $25 million in 2024 compensation, while Barra received $29 million. Both executives should be grateful that Trump’s tariffs have distracted from their failing EV ambitions.
Contact Eric Starkman at eric@starkmanapproved. Anonymity assured.
