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Ford to close two UK plants with loss of 1,400 jobs


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I would like our government to offer incentives to Ford to ensure that the Transit is still made in the UK, in the same way that the French govt gave incentives to Peugeot a year or two back when a French plant was threatened with closure. How many tuppenny ha'penny Mcjobs will it take to replace these?

 

The latest French attempt to keep every single job at Peugeot comes at a loan guarentee of £5.7 billion. To safeguard 8,000 jobs. And the company still will not guarentee all the jobs will be saved.

 

That's the plan you want to follow?

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The latest French attempt to keep every single job at Peugeot comes at a loan guarentee of £5.7 billion. To safeguard 8,000 jobs. And the company still will not guarentee all the jobs will be saved.

 

That's the plan you want to follow?

 

How much did we steal from the solvent people spend to bail the banks out?

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The latest French attempt to keep every single job at Peugeot comes at a loan guarentee of £5.7 billion. To safeguard 8,000 jobs. And the company still will not guarentee all the jobs will be saved.

 

That's the plan you want to follow?

 

 

It's guarantee, and yes I think this is very much the kind of thing the government should do. What would you prefer for the economy, a banana republic as we're headed?

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How much did we steal from the solvent people spend to bail the banks out?

 

A lot. And nobody has ever explained to me why we had to, but it does seem we had to, as in the consequences if we didn't would be much worse. I'd love to see an informed projection of what would have happened if we had not bailed out the banks to get a view on which was the right choice.

 

However I doubt the French economy has the same exposure to Peugeot as it's banks. Just very clever play by the family to extract further taxpayers money from the new government while the inevitable closures and off shoring take place.

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It's guarantee, and yes I think this is very much the kind of thing the government should do. What would you prefer for the economy, a banana republic as we're headed?

 

 

Don't they make 'em cheaper in Eastern Europe? Do you expect British folk to pay more for a van made in the UK than one made abroad? I thought it boiled down to wage rates.

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Of course. If you can sell them to the US.

 

If there was a demand for Ford Transits in the US, do you think it would be feasible for Ford to make them there? Do you think they might be able to open up a plant ... at somewhere like Dearborn, perhaps? - It would save the cost of freighting them over.

 

According to the news articles, Ford is closing 2 factories in the UK (EU) and a rather larger factory in Belgium (EU). The article I read said they are opening another plant in Turkey (outside the EU and probably cheap labour) and another poster said they were also looking at opening a factory in Russia.

 

Does that not suggest that Ford may be considering a market in the Eastern Hemisphere?

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Don't they make 'em cheaper in Eastern Europe? Do you expect British folk to pay more for a van made in the UK than one made abroad? I thought it boiled down to wage rates.

 

If they make them outside the EU and sell them within the EU then they will pay EU import duties. If they make them outside the EU and sell them in countries outside the EU then it is a different ballgame.

 

I wonder whether there might be a market in:

 

Ukraine

Kazakhstan

Belarus

Azerbaijan

Uzbekhistan

Lithuania

Turkmenistan

Latvia

Estonia

Georgia

Armenia

Tajikstan

Kyrgyzstan or

Moldova?

 

- besides Russia and Turkey.

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If they make them outside the EU and sell them within the EU then they will pay EU import duties. If they make them outside the EU and sell them in countries outside the EU then it is a different ballgame.

 

I wonder whether there might be a market in:

 

Ukraine

Kazakhstan

Belarus

Azerbaijan

Uzbekhistan

Lithuania

Turkmenistan

Latvia

Estonia

Georgia

Armenia

Tajikstan

Kyrgyzstan or

Moldova?

 

- besides Russia and Turkey.

 

So as Ford has a plant that makes Transit vans in Rumania, that has recently joined the EU and has wage rates about 75% less than those of the UK, that should do nicely for the European market.

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So as Ford has a plant that makes Transit vans in Rumania, that has recently joined the EU and has wage rates about 75% less than those of the UK, that should do nicely for the European market.

 

 

Do you support Fords decision to close the plant?

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Do you support Fords decision to close the plant?

 

Ford is an American company, so if you were Ford's CEO where would you choose to make Transit Vans?

 

In the UK where it costs £2500 in labour per van or in Rumania where it costs £500 per van.

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