Ford Aims to Save U.S. Jobs by Moving Production of Two Medium-Duty Trucks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 40 points lower, or 0.24%, by midafternoon as Russia-Ukraine tensions continue to make headlines. In other news, Automatic Data Processing's monthly payroll report showed 139,000 nonfarm private sector jobs were created last month, which was short of the expected 160,000. However, the Labor Department employment report for February is expected to show improvements when it is released on Friday. As the economy continues to strengthen modestly, investors would be wise to keep a long-term focus on stock investments. With that in mind, here are some companies making headlines today.

Inside the Dow, Boeing is trading 0.88% lower despite news of a contract win. The U.S. Defense Department yesterday delivered a contract valued at $1.16 billion for the full-rate production of the AH-64E Apache helicopter. The Pentagon said the contract includes 72 remanufactured helicopter systems, 10 new helicopters, and six crew trainers.

Source: Ford.

Outside the Dow Jones, Ford , to the delight of union workers, is bringing jobs back to America. Yesterday, the automaker debuted new versions of its F-650 and F-750 trucks which will go on sale in the second half of 2015. Ford is bringing some components back in-house which will reduce costs, simplify issues, and save a majority of the 1,600 UAW production workers at its Ohio plant.

Ford's two medium-duty commercial trucks will be built without the help of Navistar, Cummins, or Allison Transmission for the first time in years. Because of that Ford will no longer give customers the option of Cummins' 6.7-liter turbo diesel on the two trucks. Instead, the company will offer a 6.7-liter V-8 diesel or a V-10 gasoline engine.

Ford's F-650/F-750 anchor its commercial truck lineup and has been America's best-selling line of commercial trucks for 29 years. This is the first step in Ford's goal to launch all-new or significantly refreshed models for all of its commercial trucks and vans. While this is good news for some union workers, investors will look toward Ford's 2015 F-150, which will hit dealerships later this year, for a move that will significantly help or hurt profitability.

In other automotive news, Tesla, which is used to winning awards for its Model S all the time, was beat out by the Peugeot 308 for "Car of the Year" at the Geneva Motor Show. The Peugeot 308 also defeated competition from cars including the BMW i3, Mazda 3, Mercedes Classe S, and Skoda Octavia.

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The article Ford Aims to Save U.S. Jobs by Moving Production of Two Medium-Duty Trucks originally appeared on Fool.com.

Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford. The Motley Fool recommends Ford. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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