Romney criticized over Jeep production debacle
Presidential candidate Governor Romney's campaign advertising has landed him in hot water with firms Chrysler and GM.
A last ditch-attempt to sway voters in the swing state of Ohio met with a new obstacle Tuesday as the heads of Chrysler and GM both criticized Romney, The Financial Times reports.
A recent advertisement ran on radio and television created by the Republican candidate suggested that Chrysler's famous Jeep brand would soon be shifted from U.S. production to China -- a country well-known for lower labor costs.
However, Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne took umbrage to this claim, writing an email to the Detroit Free Press in response:
"I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China.
North American production is critical to achieving our goal of selling 800,000 Jeep vehicles by 2014. In fact, U.S. production of our Jeep models has nearly tripled (it is expected to be up 185%) since 2009 in order to keep up with global demand.
We also are investing to improve and expand our entire U.S. operations, including our Jeep facilities."
The problem is that Romney cited an article which said Chrysler wanted to build Jeeps in China, which is true. However, the candidate used the fact as evidence that all production would be moved from factories based in Detroit, Toledo and Belvidere, where the firm has created over 11,000 new U.S. since 2009.
In addition, GM has also criticized the Republican's tactics, claiming the advertisements encapsulated "cynical politics."
Romney's campaign groups have defended the statement as factually true, as Chrysler and Fiat are planning a joint venture to kick-start production centers in China.
(via The Financial Times)
Image credit: PlanetPOV
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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com