The Ford Motor Company said Tuesday it planned to manufacture the next generation of the Focus in China instead of Mexico, resulting in savings of $500 million.

"Finding a more cost-effective way to deliver the next Focus program in North America is a better plan, allowing us to redeploy the money we save into areas of growth for the company - especially sport utilities, commercial vehicles, performance vehicles as well as mobility, autonomous vehicles and electrified vehicles," Joe Hinrichs, a Ford executive vice president and president of global operations, said in a statement.

The new Focus was initially going to be made at the US automaker's plant in Hermosillo, a city in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

In January, Ford said the Focus would be made in Hermosillo, but the automaker scrapped plans for a new $1.6 billion plant in San Luis Potosi, a state in central Mexico, in a move that was viewed as a nod to US President Donald Trump, who thanked the automaker.

Production of the new Focus will start in the second half of 2019, with the majority of the units for North American sale initially coming from China, Ford said.

Some Focus models will be imported from Europe at a later date, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said.

"Ford is saving $1 billion in investment costs versus its original Focus production plan, improving the financial health of its Focus business and further improving manufacturing scale in China - all helping create a more operationally fit company," the automaker said.

Ford also said it was investing nearly $1 billion in a truck plant in Kentucky to boost production of large SUVs.

"Ford is investing $900 million in Kentucky Truck Plant for plant upgrades to build the all-new Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, which begin arriving in dealerships this fall. Both full-size SUVs will be exported to more than 55 markets globally - including Navigator to China," the automaker said.

Ford said the large investment in the plant in Louisville, Kentucky, "secures 1,000 jobs for hourly workers."

"Large SUVs are attracting a new generation around the world - and we're finding new ways to deliver the capability, versatility and technology that customers around the world really want with our all-new Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator," Hinrichs said.

Ford, which employs about 202,000 people around the world, manufactures cars, trucks, SUVs and other vehicles.