Chrysler Group LLC Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne reaffirmed on Tuesday that the company is not moving Jeep vehicle production out of the United States to China after it became an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.
Chrysler in an October 25 blog post had already rejected a statement made that day to a crowd in Ohio by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, that Chrysler was thinking of moving all Jeep production from Ohio to China.
Marchionne told employees by email on Tuesday, "I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China."
Romney, speaking last week to a crowd in Defiance, Ohio, said that he had read a news article that said Chrysler's Jeep brand is considering moving "all production to China."
Later, the Romney campaign aired an advertisement that did not repeat the move of production from Ohio but said that Chrysler is considering making Jeeps in China, which Chrysler has said.
U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign, in its own ad, said Romney was making a "false claim" and noted that Chrysler had challenged Romney's statement.
Ohio is seen by many political pollsters one of several key "swing" states in next Tuesday's presidential election.
Chrysler has been managed by Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) since it emerged from its 2009 bankruptcy, when the Italian company took 20-percent ownership. Marchionne is chief executive of both Chrysler and Fiat.
Fiat has since increased its ownership to 58.5 percent after achieving several goals, including building a fuel-efficient compact car made in the United States and increasing Chrysler sales outside its North American base.
Romney's ad and his comments in Defiance state that Chrysler has been taken over by an Italian company. Chrysler is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, outside Detroit. Defiance is about an hour's drive to the a main Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/30/us-chrysler-jeep-idUSBRE89T15X20121030
No comments:
Post a Comment