washington u.s. president-elect donald trump say ford motor co executive chairman bill ford jr tell automaker would move kentucky plant mexico firm say inform decision keep one vehicle u.s. production thursday trump post twitter work hard bill ford keep lincoln plant kentucky owe great state kentucky confidence keep lincoln plant kentucky mexico president-elect tweet ford repeatedly say plan close u.s. plant likely could term current unite auto workers contract expire 2019. first time trump comment ford production call question last year take credit ford move work mexico ohio automaker already make decision 2011 long trump announce run president spokeswoman christin baker say ford confirm president-elect small lincoln utility vehicle make louisville assembly plant stay kentucky encourage president-elect trump new congress pursue policies improve u.s. competitiveness make possible keep production vehicle unite state add statement company build ford escape lincoln mkc suv louisville assembly plant kentucky trump refer lincoln plant ford employ 4,700 people also separate truck plant louisville build pickups large suvs clear many job would impact low-selling mkc move mexico ford sell 20,000 mkc suvs year unite state compare 258,000 escape suvs ford say last month would suspend production escape mkc louisville assembly plant kentucky two weeks low demand 2015 tell workers plant plan phase mkc production 2019 move elsewhere u.s. automaker plan move small-car production south border ford endure scathing criticism trump mexican investments nearly 18 months say time incorrectly ford plan fire american workers mexican investments presidential campaign republican candidate also say elect would allow ford open new plant mexico would slap hefty tariff ford vehicles make trump spokeswoman immediately respond question whether ford decision keep production suv unite state would cause drop plan impose tariff ford vehicles build mexico april 2015 ford say plan invest 2.5 billion build two new plant mexico add 3,800 job early year ford say invest 1.6 billion mexico small-car production start 2018. september ford confirm company small-car production leave u.s. plant head lower-cost mexico 2019 plant would close result ford repeatedly say u.s. job lose move produce two new vehicles detroit area plant build small cars october bill ford say meet trump talk extensive attack ford investments mexico ford say trump criticism infuriate frustrate company extensive investments employment unite state ford tell trump lincoln suv production go mexico