Former GM plant in Mansfield sold; 1,100 new jobs envisioned

Former GM plant in Mansfield sold

MANSFIELD

The sale of a former General Motors plant in north-central Ohio is raising hopes that new jobs will be coming.

Representatives of a Miami-based firm that will own the former auto factory near Mansfield say they have two potential tenants that could bring 1,100 jobs combined.

General Motors Co. shut down the plant three years ago. The factory had opened in 1955.

The Mansfield News Journal reports that the new owners plan to demolish half of the plant and turn it into a modern multitenant site.

Terms of the sale weren’t released.

Ford expects sales to reach 2.2 million

DEARBORN, Mich.

Ford says it expects to sell 2.2 million vehicles this year, with the Ford Focus compact car being its most popular model.

The Dearborn, Mich., company says it is the second year in a row it will sell more than 2 million cars. It sold 737,856 Ford Focuses through September. The Ford Fiesta sedan and hatchback and F-series trucks were other popular models, with Ford selling 560,061 Fiestas and 576,339 F-Series vehicles through September.

Ford Motor Co.’s EcoBoost engines, which save energy, are on track to be sold in 520,000 cars by year-end since their launch in 2009. A new 1-liter, 3-cylinder engine will be available in 2013 in new Fiesta cars in the U.S.

Germany’s Merkel: State must keep markets in check

BERLIN

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the state must watch over the market to prevent the excesses that led to the 2008 financial crisis.

Merkel used her New Year’s speech broadcast today to warn that the lessons of the market collapse five years ago haven’t been fully learned yet.

The German chancellor says greater international efforts are needed to control financial markets and prevent the “irresponsibility” that began when the U.S. subprime mortgage bubble burst.

Merkel warned that reforms agreed to by governments to end the subsequent European sovereign-debt crisis would require patience.

Europe’s economic turmoil “isn’t overcome by a long stretch,” she said.

Associated Press