Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne rejected an assertion from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that Chrysler is planning on moving Jeep production to China.
“I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China,” Marchionne said in an email to employees Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by The Detroit News.
In fact, he said the company will continue to expand Jeep manufacturing in this country, noting the automaker has added thousands of jobs in the United States to build additional Jeep vehicles.
“Jeep is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change. So much so that we committed that the iconic Wrangler nameplate, currently produced in our Toledo, Ohio, plant, will never see full production outside the United States,” Marchionne said. “Jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the United States and will constitute the backbone of the brand. It is inaccurate to suggest anything different.”
Romney falsely suggested in a speech Thursday that the automaker was considering moving all Jeep production to China. The statement was apparently based on right-leaning blogs that misinterpreted a Bloomberg News story.
The campaign on Saturday started airing an ad about the auto bailout that said Jeep might start building vehicles in China. The ad is technically accurate, but has been called misleading by many, since the automaker is only talking about Chinese production for Chinese consumers.
Romney’s campaign also released a new radio ad in Ohio on Tuesday that also attacked General Motors Co. for building cars in China, ramping up the rhetoric.
“Under President Obama, GM cut 15,000 American jobs, but they are planning to double the number of cars built in China, which means 15,000 more jobs for China. And now comes word that Chrysler is starting to build cars in, you guessed it, China,” the ad says. “Mitt Romney — he’ll stand up for the auto industry. In Ohio, not China.”
GM has long built cars in China for consumers, and Chrysler previously built Jeeps in China. It is true that GM has cut jobs since 2008, but it might not be in business if Obama hadn’t agreed to a $50 billion bailout. The job cuts had nothing to do with China, but with shrinking GM in order to restore profitability.
“At this stage, we’re looking at Hubble telescope-length distances between campaign ads and reality. GM’s creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country should be a source of bipartisan pride,” GM spokesman Greg Martin said.
The Obama campaign began running an ad Tuesday in Toledo calling Romney’s television ad about Jeep a “lie.”
Both candidates are making a big issue of Jeep in China because of how important Ohio is. They are trying to sway blue-collar voters in auto towns across the Buckeye State.
Marchionne said the Auburn Hills automaker is “investing to improve and expand our entire U.S. operations, including our Jeep facilities.”
He noted the company plans to “invest more than $1.7 billion to develop and produce the next-generation Jeep SUV, the successor of the Jeep Liberty — including $500 million directly to tool and expand our Toledo Assembly Complex, and will be adding about 1,100 jobs on a second shift by 2013.”
In Detroit, at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant, Chrysler has created 2,000 jobs since June 2009 and has invested more than $1.8 billion to build its Jeep Grand Cherokee.
However, Marchionne said the company does plan to add additional production capacity in China to build Jeeps for the Chinese market.
“(W)e are working to establish a global enterprise and previously announced our intent to return Jeep production to China, the world’s largest auto market, in order to satisfy local market demand, which would not otherwise be accessible,” Marchionne said. “Chrysler Group is interested in expanding the customer base for our award-winning Jeep vehicles, which can only be done by establishing local production. This will ultimately help bolster the Jeep brand and solidify the resilience of U.S. jobs.”
Clearly nervous about the impact of Romney’s auto bailout ad, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton both denounced Romney’s comments on Jeep moving to China at a campaign stop in Youngstown, Ohio — another auto town – on Monday
“Have they no shame? Romney will say anything — absolutely anything — to win,” Biden said, adding it is “absolutely, patently false. … This guy pirouettes more than a ballerina.”
Clinton called the comments Romney “the biggest load of bull in the world that they would consider shutting down their American operation.”
Clinton acknowledged Chrysler may build Jeeps in China for the Chinese market.
“Now it turns out that Jeep is reopening in China because they made so much money here they can afford to do it and they are going on with their plans here,” he said. “They are roaring in America thanks to people like the people of Ohio.”
Romney has repeatedly denied his opposition to the $85 billion auto bailout meant he was in favor of letting the U.S. auto industry collapse — and has said he would have provided government support but only after automakers filed for bankruptcy.
Romney’s campaign has repeatedly refused to answer any questions about the ad or his comments.
Asked for a response to the attacks on the ad, Romney campaign spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said Monday: “It appears the Obama campaign is less concerned with engaging in a meaningful conversation about his failed policies and more concerned with arguing against facts about their record they dislike. The American people will see their desperate arguments for what they are.”
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