Ford to make 3 new SUVS at Chicago plants
Ford Motor Co. plans to invest $1 billion and add 500 jobs at its plants in Chicago as the automaker launches three new SUVS.
Ford announced at the Chicago Auto Show on Thursday that it will expand capacity to produce a new Ford Explorer, new Police Interceptor Utility and new Lincoln Aviator. Work will be finished this spring.
The new jobs at the two Chicago facilities will bring employment at both to about 5,800.
The Chicago assembly plant will stop making the one-time top-selling Taurus sedan as it meets rising demand for SUVS. The Chicago factory is Ford’s longest continually operating vehicle assembly plant. It started producing the Model T in 1924.
Drugmaker to add prices to commercials
Johnson & Johnson says it will start giving the list price of its prescription drugs in television ads. The company would be the first drugmaker to take that step.
J&J said Thursday it would start with its popular blood thinner, Xarelto. By late March, commercials will give the pill’s list price plus typical out-of-pocket costs. The information will appear on screen at the end of the commercial. It will include a link to a website where people can enter insurance information to get more specific costs.
The move follows a Trump administration proposal to require list prices in TV ads. The pharmaceutical industry opposed that, arguing that few people pay the high list prices.
Ashtabula iron plant project seeks final state approvals
A company planning to build a $474 million plant to produce high-grade pig iron for the metal casting industry says it’s received its final air emissions permit from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Petmin USA announced Thursday that the project in Ashtabula in northeast Ohio now depends on final approval of state and local tax incentives.
The subsidiary of South Africa-based Petmin says the project will employ more than 500 people during construction and 110 full-time workers when the plant is operational, perhaps in 2021.
Petmin says the plant would be the first in the United States to produce high-purity pig iron, a component in an iron alloy that’s used for the manufacturing of vehicles, appliances, wind turbines and other products.
Fiat Chrysler reports surge in net profit
Italian-american automaker Fiat Chrysler says fourth-quarter net profits rose by 61 percent, powered by North American sales of the all-new Ram 1500 and Jeep Wrangler.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Thursday reported quarterly net profits of $1.46 billion, compared with about $900,000 in 2017. Revenues rose 6 percent to $34.7 billion.
North American profits grew by 19 percent, accounting for the lion’s share of the automaker’s global profits. The carmaker continued to have trouble in Asia. Europe also lost ground, with profits dipping 44 percent on lower shipments and weaker pricing, while Latin America more than doubled.
Based on the company’s earnings last year, 44,000 unionized U.S. auto workers will get $6,000 profit-sharing checks. That’s $500 more than in 2017, but smaller than U.S. rivals Ford and General Motors. On Wednesday, GM announced that workers would get $10,750, while Ford workers will get $7,600.