EDITORIAL_Ford Motor Co’s Sept. 14 confirmation that it is moving all of its small-car assembly operations–including its fuel-efficient Focus–to Mexico forces Americans striving to make climate-friendly vehicle purchases and support U.S. workers to choose between God and country.

“We will have migrated all of our small-car production to Mexico and out of the United States over the next two years,” Fields told Wall Street analysts at an investor conference hosted by the automaker, according to a Reuters article. Ford joins Toyota, Honda, FCA, Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Mazda and BMW, which also have assembly plants in Mexico, as well as its own Ford Fiesta plant. Currently, approximately 3.5 million cars are made in Mexico, and that number is expected to grow to 5 million by 2020. As of 2015, Mexico was the fourth-largest exporter of cars and auto parts.

The announcement kicked up new dust in the U.S. presidential election scuffle about trade agreements encouraging the exodus of U.S. manufacturing jobs and business. Ford responded that it would replace Focus and C-Max production at its Wayne., Mich., plant with production of larger, more profitable trucks and SUVs—possibly a Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup.

“So not one job will be lost,” Fields said.

Jobs or Planet?

The zero-job-loss-by-substitution claim ignores the elephant-sized obvious question: Why can’t the new production plant be built stateside–increasing in-plant assembly jobs and suppliers’ business prospects and jobs with it? Ford has previously said that a new plant in Mexico would employ 2,800 workers there.

There is the possibility that U.S. manufacturers currently supplying the Wayne plant will continue to supply the Mexico plant; however, that premise runs counter to the sustainability mantra promoting local sourcing. Ford outlined its goal to reduce carbon emissions in its corporate sustainability report.

The concept that the displacement of the small vehicles with larger ones will result in zero job loss also acts on the premise that the demand for new trucks and SUVs will equal the demand for small vehicles, which exhibit better fuel efficiency than SUVs and trucks. In the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE)’s list of greenest vehicles in 2015, there’s not an SUV or truck in the bunch. Logic indicates that if/when gasoline prices rise again above $4 per gallon and climate change intensifies, consumers might once again seek smaller cars.

All of which means that Americans who want to purchase a fuel-efficient, low-carbon Ford vehicle and also want to support American manufacturers and auto workers will be forced to choose between the two.

Got thoughts? I’d love to hear from you. kateb@sustainablemfr.com