Mexico drums up business

In the mist of a huge slump, Mexico is trying to lure more automakers to set up shop in the country. Within the last five years, exports of vehicles from Mexico have dropped 31% because of a dwindling demand of Ford, GM and VW vehicles in the U.S. Ford's Hermosillo plant in Mexico is getting ready for production to begin on the new Fusion, Milan and Zephyr triplets hoping that the new mid-size vehicles will bring fortune once again to the Mexican industry. Mexico is also courting the European Union and Japan since they have just recently signed free-trade pacts with those areas removing tariffs. When benefits are totaled into an assembly-line worker's wage, the Mexican worker costs about $10 an hour while a similar unionized worker in the U.S. costs a manufacturer $60. Ford's mid-size car production begins August 1.