Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has broadened his
attack on President Barack Obama’s auto industry restructuring, implying
that General Motors used the aid to hire more workers in China than in
the U.S.
“Barack Obama says he saved the auto industry. But for who? Ohio
or China?” says the narrator in a radio spot running in Ohio. “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 plans to start making Jeeps
in, you guessed it, China.”
GM quickly defended its performance.
“We've clearly entered some parallel universe during these last
few days,” GM spokesman Greg Martin said. “No amount of campaign
politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs
in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country.”
Separately, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne used an e-mail to
employees today to refute the implication in a Romney TV ad that
Chrysler may move all Jeep production from the U.S. to China.
“Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to
China,” Marchionne stated in the e-mail. “The numbers tell the story,”
followed by specific investments Chrysler has made at its plants in
Detroit, Toledo and Belvidere, Ill. “Those include more than $1.7
billion to produce the successor of the Jeep Liberty and hire about
1,100 workers on a second shift by 2013.”
Marchionne also said Chrysler has created 2,000 jobs at its
Jefferson North assembly plant since June 2009 where it makes the Jeep
Grand Cherokee. The automaker has added 2,600 jobs in Belvidere, Ill.,
where its assembles the Jeep Patriot and Compass, along with the Dodge
Dart.
GM’s total U.S. employment did fall by about 14,000 from the
end of 2008 until the end of 2011, according to the company’s filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But the majority of those
occurred in early 2009 in the crisis-driven months leading up to its
bankruptcy restructuring.
Similarly to Chrysler, GM has added jobs at factories that have
launched new products. Both companies are very profitable in the U.S.
and those profits are offsetting losses GM, or in the case of Chrysler,
Fiat, is suffering in Europe.
Chrysler reported a $381-million third-quarter profit. GM will report its results Wednesday.
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Obama's campaign fires back at Romney auto industry ad in Ohio
On Monday, Obama’s campaign released an ad attacking Romney for
his November 2008 editorial headlined “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” The ad
said, "When the auto industry faced collapse, Mitt Romney turned his
back,” and pointed out that Chrysler is adding jobs in Ohio.
Several fact-checking sources, including Politifact and the
Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler, have labeled Romney’s TV spot
inaccurate.
Marchionne confirmed in his e-mail previous statements that
Chrysler plans to eventually restart vehicle production in China because
the market “would not otherwise be accessible” without making vehicles
there. Chinese regulations make it very difficult to import foreign
vehicles.
“This ultimately will help bolster the Jeep brand, and solidify
the resilience of U.S. jobs,” Marchionne said. “Jeep is one of our truly
global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change.”
Contact: Nathan Bomey at 313-223-4743 or nbomey@freepress.com.