Not defending anyone LGS but Romney was in fact wrong. Chrysler didn't have plans to cut American jobs. It was however, at that time, considering opening a facility in China where it would produce Jeeps for sale locally. Which obviously happened as we now see
No he wasn't and the FACTS bear him out.
No facts bear Bishop Willard out. In fact his lie was exposed BEFORE the election by no less than the head of Chrysler!!! Earlier in 2012 China had increased the duty on Jeeps made in the USA to 15%, so to get around that increase Chrysler planned to build Jeeps in China for sale in China. Not one American job was moved to China, in fact USA jeep production was increased, contrary to the lies Bishop Willard continued to tell after he was corrected by the head of Chrysler!!!!
Chrysler CEO calls out Romney over 'inaccurate' Jeep ads - Business on NBCNews.com
Romney has begun running ads in Ohio stating Chrysler planned to move Jeep production to China. Analysts described the ads as part of Romneys efforts to pry the states pivotal 18 electoral votes from President Barack Obama.
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I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position:
Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China, Marchionne wrote. 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.
In contradicting the assertions in the Republican ads, Marchionne said North American production was critical to reaching Chryslers goal of selling 800,000 Jeep vehicles by 2014.
In fact, U.S. production of our Jeep models has nearly tripled since 2009 in order to keep up with global demand, he said.
The production of Jeep models is expected to be up 185 percent this year, and if anything Chrysler has rapidly expanded production at the flagship Jeep plant in Detroit with the addition of second and third shifts since the 2009 Chrysler bailout.
Chrysler does plan to produce Jeeps in China but only for domestic (Chinese) market sales, the maker has said. Indeed,
virtually every major automaker now operates production facilities in China critical to avoid hefty import duties.
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In his statement, Marchionne said: We also are investing to improve and expand our entire U.S. operations, including our Jeep facilities. The numbers tell the story.
We will 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.
At our Jefferson North Assembly Plant, where we build the Jeep Grand Cherokee, we have created 2,000 jobs since June 2009 and have invested more than $1.8 billion.
Marchionne said that with the increase in demand for Chrysler vehicles, especially Jeep branded vehicles, more than 11,200 U.S. jobs have been added since 2009.
Plants producing Jeep branded vehicles alone have seen the number of people invested in the success of the Jeep brand grow to more than 9,300 hourly jobs from 4,700.