Bailout Babies GM And Chrysler Attack Romney For China Production Comments

Chrysler Group and General Motors Co. forcefully attacked comments from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that Chinese production could cost Americans jobs.

After months of largely trying to stay out of the fray, the two U.S. automakers that were rescued by taxpayers in 2008 and 2009 attacked the Detroit native who opposed the $85 billion auto bailout.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne rejected an assertion from 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.

Northstar - 10/31/2012 10:46:04 AM

+2 Boost

Funny how Americans are happy to see Toyotas, Hondas, etc. assembled here in the USA instead of being imported from overseas, BUT we shouldn't build our products elsewhere because that takes our jobs away from us. He has a fair trade point however. Build the Jeeps in China to get around the high tariffs and currency exchange games that China puts on imported products and you do risk those products coming back here as imports without any duties collected. The key in a global market is for the USA plants and workers (see UAW)to stay ahead of the game and make themselves so competitive globally that imports do not make sense.

Agent009 - 10/31/2012 11:31:53 AM

+5 Boost

Most of it boils down to job creation. Taking the product and building it overseas and selling it here, really doesn't help the economy here at all.

thetruth01 - 10/31/2012 12:44:15 PM

+2 Boost

YOu know damn well that is not what is happening. Chrysler is planning on extending its reach into China by building vehicles there to be sold there, just like every manufacturer does. This is the only way they will make serious inroads into China. Your pandering to the right is dishonest and degrades this site even further. Shameless.

And calling GM and Chrysler babies for pointing out Romney's pathetic lies is disgusting. Yes, cars are politics. But the tea party tilt of auto sites in the past 4 years has been a real turn off to readers who just want some good news and analysis. They obviously can't come here.

PLAY - 10/31/2012 11:48:33 AM

+1 Boost

I think the initial assertion was that production was being moved to China so it could be shipped to the United States, which is not true. Production is being set up in China for the Chinese market.

AlleVier - 10/31/2012 2:11:48 PM

0 Boost

I don't even think that was the assertion, rather, it was mistakenly interpreted from a line that said that eventually "all models" would be produced in China--which did NOT mean all production. What kind of sharp-thinking businessman thinks that moving all Jeep production to China would be a viable strategy for a brand so strongly associated with America? None.

HughJass - 10/31/2012 12:21:06 PM

+4 Boost

Chrysler can give Romney lip but GM has not right to considering they have future plans to import Cadillacs from China and have already moved a few factories to Mexico.

mini22 - 10/31/2012 1:19:37 PM

+1 Boost

Romney is simply talking out both sides of his ass. First he says let Chrysler and GM go bankrupt. Then he says they should go into managed bankruptsy so that lending insitutions and other private equity firms
would invest in GM and Chrysler. Just today I read that Romney profited
on a company that stripped Delphi employees of their pensions.All I can say is that I have no words for this man other then wishing real hard he does not become our president. I voted for Obama. He has his flaws but he is simply better then that Camillion Romney.

HughJass - 10/31/2012 6:44:11 PM

+4 Boost

Going into Chapter 11 in the U.S. means managed bankruptcy, generally. He may have meant, but didn't say, let GM prove that it's worth saving, not "here's a blank cheque now go to town".
Unfortunately for him, what he meant and what he says gives Jesus the opening to frame him as a "let them go under because I love sending jobs to China, just like GM" kind of candidate.

What really concerns me this time around is what's going to happen to big bird and how quickly will Mitt take womens right to vote away, and if he will ease slavery back into America or just sign it into law right away? That's what the Dumbocrats would have be believe the issues are.

Northstar - 10/31/2012 5:38:25 PM

+1 Boost

These are global companies that have global shareholders who are interested in their global profits. They are not in business to grow the economy of any specific country, USA or otherwise. Countries all like to have products sold in their country made there.Chrysler is making Jeeps in China to sell them in China, and get around Chinese import duties as well as the Chinese two currency game which currently drives up the selling price of Jeeps in China. Those Jeeps are designed and engineered in the USA by lots of middle class professionals. So it creates USA jobs in this case.

HughJass - 10/31/2012 6:48:32 PM

+3 Boost

Actually, normal companies do what you describe. SWF and Chinese companies do what the government tells them, no matter how much they claim to be independent of Chairman Mao.
If the communist party tells them to bribe retarded Americans by stuffing Walmart shelves at a loss, they happily stuff shelves at a loss.

enthusiastx11 - 11/3/2012 2:03:58 PM

-2 Boost

romney is arguably the most dishonest, disingenuous men ever to seek the presidency of the united states. thankfully, he will lose.

his flat out lies about jeep production moving overseas pair nicely with the fortune he made in delphi stock as a result of the bailout dollars that flowed to investors like him.

enthusiastx11 - 11/4/2012 11:14:15 AM

+1 Boost

yes, deboost me for calling a liar a liar. this man is a fascist. vote for him and you might as well learn to say 'heil hitler' with a proper german accent.

skytop - 11/4/2012 6:40:45 PM

+1 Boost

A Chinese built Jeep would probably be better built and have less defects.