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was incorporated in 1925 with capital of 500,000 pesos ($250,000). Adrian Rene Lajous, a Mexican of aristocratic parentage who was appointed managing director of the firm, knew President Plutarco Elí Calles personally and negotiated customs, tax, and railway freight-rate concessions from the government. Ford obtained a 50 percent rebate on duties for materials imported into Mexico. The company also was promised by the government that there would be no problems with the unions; however, a union was formed at the Ford factory as early as 1932. With regard to wages, Lajous suggested to Ford that it pay workers no more than $3 a day-a substantial sum at the time, since wages averaged only $1.25 a
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Anti-inflationary measures then made car loans more difficult to obtain, and Ford claimed that as a result of declining sales its profit margins were falling. Nevertheless, automobile sales continued to rise because Mexicans turned to cheaper compacts. In 1977 Ford was the ninth-largest company in Mexico, with sales of 7.88 billion pesos (about $358 million). Some 350,000 cars and trucks were sold in Mexico in 1978, of which 19 percent were Fords.
During this period Ford established a joint venture with Grupo Alfa to produce aluminum cylinder heads for its engines, with Grupo Vitro to make glass for its vehicles, and with Grupo Visa to make plastic components. The millionth Ford was produced in 1980. This was the last LTD assembled at La Villa, which ceased to be a production facility in 1984. Its assembly operations were transferred to Cuautitlán. An engine-manufacturing factory was opened in Chihuahua in 1983.
Turning to Exporting in the 1980s and …show more content…
and Canadian markets. The factory featured a "just-in-time" system for this model's 2,400 components and 96 Kawasaki robots to do 95 percent of the welding. Another $300 million in funds raised the number of robots to 128, introduced personal computers, increased the plant's capacity to 170,000 autos a year, and retooled it to produce the Ford Escort. In 1990 the plant turned out 47,702 Tracers and 40,902 Ford Escorts.
A six-week strike by about 800 workers in Hermosillo ended in April 1987, when they received an average wage increase of 34.5 percent, plus a 20-percent inflation adjustment mandated by the government. They had been averaging $1.09 an hour for a 45-hour week. In September of that year Ford dismissed 3,200 workers at the Cuautitlán plant as part of a settlement ending a nine-week strike there. The company's Mexican sales had fallen 45 percent the previous
Anti-inflationary measures then made car loans more difficult to obtain, and Ford claimed that as a result of declining sales its profit margins were falling. Nevertheless, automobile sales continued to rise because Mexicans turned to cheaper compacts. In 1977 Ford was the ninth-largest company in Mexico, with sales of 7.88 billion pesos (about $358 million). Some 350,000 cars and trucks were sold in Mexico in 1978, of which 19 percent were Fords.
During this period Ford established a joint venture with Grupo Alfa to produce aluminum cylinder heads for its engines, with Grupo Vitro to make glass for its vehicles, and with Grupo Visa to make plastic components. The millionth Ford was produced in 1980. This was the last LTD assembled at La Villa, which ceased to be a production facility in 1984. Its assembly operations were transferred to Cuautitlán. An engine-manufacturing factory was opened in Chihuahua in 1983.
Turning to Exporting in the 1980s and …show more content…
and Canadian markets. The factory featured a "just-in-time" system for this model's 2,400 components and 96 Kawasaki robots to do 95 percent of the welding. Another $300 million in funds raised the number of robots to 128, introduced personal computers, increased the plant's capacity to 170,000 autos a year, and retooled it to produce the Ford Escort. In 1990 the plant turned out 47,702 Tracers and 40,902 Ford Escorts.
A six-week strike by about 800 workers in Hermosillo ended in April 1987, when they received an average wage increase of 34.5 percent, plus a 20-percent inflation adjustment mandated by the government. They had been averaging $1.09 an hour for a 45-hour week. In September of that year Ford dismissed 3,200 workers at the Cuautitlán plant as part of a settlement ending a nine-week strike there. The company's Mexican sales had fallen 45 percent the previous