I think I can translate...

A few minutes ago, after getting back from Daytona, I observed our new kitten, Friendly, hiding behind the bookcase in the hall in a stalking-pounce position.  Chessie, coming out of the bedroom, also observed her, and gave a small meow.  Not knowing for certain, I imagine the meow would translate as "I'm getting too old for this."

Ford's elves are mostly Mexican

Today on TV, I saw an ad for the "Ford Year End Celebration."  The premise of the ad is that the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta are on display in a store in a mall, and mall customers are oohing and ahhing over them.

During the commercial, one of the customers asks, "Are these made here?" and the spokesman responds "Right here in this store.  A small group of elves come in."  Yuck yuck yuck.  Very holiday themed.  Very cute.  And it also ignores the question.  I'm not one to put much stock in the "buy America," thing, but "where is this car made?" is a legitimate question.

The real, elf-free answer can be found at Wikipedia's List of Ford Factories -- the Ford Fiesta is made in the AutoAlliance Thailand Plant in Pleukdang, Thailand, the Azambuja Assembly Plant in Azambuja, Portugal, the Bahia Plant in Camaçari, Bahia, Brazil, the Valencia Body and Assembly in Valencia Spain, the Valencia Assembly in Valencia Venezuela (I don't know if or why Ford has a special fondness for places named Valencia), the Cologne Body & Assembly plant in Cologne Germany, the Cuautitlán Assembly in Cuautitlán-Izcalli, Mexico, the Ford India plant in Tamil Nadu, India, the Ford Lio Ho Assembly plant in Chung Li, Taiwan, and the Ford Motor Company of South Africa plant in Silverton, South Africa.  The Focus is made in the Azambuja Assembly Plant in Azambuja, Portugal, the Valencia Body and Assembly in Valencia Spain, the Ford Motor Company Philippines plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines (though that plant is closing this month), the Ford Motor Company ZAO plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Ford Vietnam Hai Duong Assembly plant in Hai Duong, Vietnam, the Hermosillo Stamping & Assembly in Hermosillo, Mexico, the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan (though the list specified the 2012 Focus--so they may not make it there anymore), the Pacheco Stamping & Assembly plant in Buenos Aires, Argentina (this plant only makes the Focus II), and the Saarlouis Body & Assembly plant in Saarlouis, Germany.  I strongly suspect that the Fiestas made in the Cuautitlán Assembly in Mexico and the Focuses made in the Hermosillo Stamping & Assembly in Mexico and the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan are the ones sold in the U.S.  The exact context of the line in the commercial, the question was either about the Focus, or about both the Focus and Fiesta. The answer to the customer's question , however, was, "No, they're mostly made in Mexico."

(As an interesting--and somewhat creepy--aside, as I was writing this post, I got a spam message advertising a Ford Clearance sale.  One wonders what I triggered with my search for information on Ford.)