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Ford already retails Bsegment EcoSport CUV overseas
<p><strong>Ford already retails B-segment EcoSport CUV overseas.</strong></p>

Small CUV Likely Model for Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant

WardsAuto forecast data shows the Focus&nbsp;as well as an unnamed Lincoln small CUV being built at the automaker&rsquo;s Cuautitlan, Mexico, plant beginning in 2018.

The announcement that Ford will shift production of the Focus compact car and the Focus-based C-Max hybrid vehicle from its Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne, MI, to Mexico has many wondering what will fill the void they leave behind at the facility.

WardsAuto analysis shows a B-segment CUV is the most likely model to be built at Michigan Assembly, given the continuing dominance of the CUV market, and small CUVs in particular.

Ford and Toyota are the last two major automakers not offering a model, or announcing their intentions to offer a model, in the burgeoning small CUV segment in the U.S.

Entrants in the segment include the Buick Encore, Chevrolet Trax, Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, Mazda CX-3, Nissan Juke and Subaru XV Crosstrek.

Hyundai is another Big 7 automaker lacking a B-segment CUV but hopes to offer a model in the U.S. soon, noting it wants a more daringly designed vehicle than models the automaker sells overseas.

Meanwhile, WardsAuto forecast data shows the Focus as well as an unnamed Lincoln small CUV being built at the automaker’s Cuautitlan, Mexico, plant beginning in 2018.

Due to the low price of gasoline, many small cars and hybrid vehicles have seen sales slump this year in the U.S.

Focus deliveries through June were down 3.2% to 117,079 units, while the C-Max was off 16.9% in the same period to 11,183 units.

With slowing demand, Ford sliced a shift from Michigan Assembly three weeks ago, laying off 673 hourly and 27 salaried employees, The Detroit News reported.

Michigan Assembly output rose 14.4% through May to 124,091, WardsAuto data shows, with Focus builds up 19.9% to 112,170, but C-Max builds declining 20.2% in the period to 11,921.

Ford is beating a well-worn path to Mexico for small-car production, although until recently most vehicles built in the low-labor-cost locale have been subcompacts, including Ford’s own Fiesta.

However, Toyota this year announced it will shift Corolla compact-car production from Ontario, Canada, to a new plant in Mexico.

Nissan already builds both its B- and C-segment Versa and Sentra cars U.S. south of the border, as does Mazda with the Mazda2 and Mazda3.

In 2004, Volkswagen’s Puebla, Mexico, plant became the sole global source of the Jetta/Bora compact car.

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