San Luis Potosi, Mexico - During an event for investors and Wall Street analysts in Michigan on Wednesday, Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Mark Fields confirmed Ford will end small-car production in the United States by shifting it all to Mexico in the next two to three years.

The only small cars still produced in the U.S. are the Focus and C-Max, built at Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant. The company announced last year it would end production of those vehicles in the U.S. in 2018, but until now has not confirmed where they would go.

Ford is now building a new $1.6 billion assembly plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. It will make small cars there starting in 2018. Ford is also spending $1.1 billion to expand an engine plant in Chihuahua and another $1.2 billion to build a new transmission plant in the state of Guanajuato that is projected to employ 2,000 workers by 2018.

After Focus production moves to Mexico, Ford will move the production of other vehicles into the Wayne, Michigan plant where the Focus is currently made, Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker said. The automaker has said previously that the new Mexican plant will not result in any U.S. job losses.

The Ford Motor Company already has two final assembly plants and one engine plant in Mexico. It has a total of 8,800 employees here, compared with 85,000 in the US.

Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant, which currently makes the small cars, will be getting new products under a contract signed last year with the United Auto Workers union. They will likely be larger, more profitable vehicles like the Ford Ranger pickup.

The company also makes the Fiesta, Fusion and Lincoln MKZ in Mexico. It will continue to build the Taurus, Lincoln Continental and Mustang in the United States.