[Vision2020] 2 American Automakers Rebut Claims by Romney

[Art Deco]

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October 30, 2012
2 American Automakers Rebut Claims by Romney By JIM
RUTENBERG<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/jim_rutenberg/index.html>and
JEREMY
W. PETERS<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/jeremy_w_peters/index.html>

TOLEDO, Ohio — Mitt Romney’s latest advertising campaign suggesting that
the auto bailout recipients
Chrysler<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/chrysler_llc/index.html?inline=nyt-org>and
General
Motors<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org>were
shifting jobs to China drew him into a public argument with top
executives at both companies, who condemned the advertisements as false on
Tuesday.

“The ad is cynical campaign politics at its worst,” Greg Martin, a
spokesman for General Motors, said in an interview late Tuesday. “We think
creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back in this country
should be a source of bipartisan pride.”

General Motors was pulled into the fray on Tuesday after Mr. Romney began
running a new radio advertisement in which an announcer says, “Barack Obama
says he saved the auto industry, but for who, Ohio or China?”

It went on to say that General Motors and Chrysler were planning to
increase the number of cars they manufacture in China: “What happened to
the promises made to autoworkers in Toledo and throughout Ohio?”

It was a variation on a television ad running here that reports that
Chrysler, which produces Jeeps here, is planning to “return Jeep output to
China.”

The spot has been widely criticized for leaving the misleading impression
that Chrysler is planning to shift jobs here in Toledo to China. In fact,
Chrysler says that it is discussing new plants for sales in China that do
not affect American hiring, and that it is adding workers in Toledo. The
spot earned a “Pants on Fire” designation from the fact-checking site
Politifact.

In an e-mail to employees on Tuesday, Chrysler’s executive, Sergio
Marchionne<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/sergio_marchionne/index.html?inline=nyt-per>,
said that Jeep’s commitment to the United States was unequivocal. “I feel
obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be
moved from the United States to China,” he wrote. “It is inaccurate to
suggest anything different.”

Mr. Marchionne’s response came as the auto bailout took center stage in the
fight for Ohio’s 18 electoral votes.

The politics of the auto bailout have become a vexing problem for Mr.
Romney. He opposed Mr. Obama’s approach to what was an $80 billion bailout,
and some supporters in the Midwest have questioned his stance that Chrysler
and General Motors should have gone through bankruptcies without federal
bailout funds. They argued that such financing was not available at what
was the height of the financial crisis.

As his campaign increases its focus on winning in this critical state —
where polls have continually given a slight edge to Mr. Obama — it has
sought to undermine the support the bailout is giving Mr. Obama here.

It was unclear whether Mr. Romney’s new strategy is advantageous, given the
reaction.

The Romney campaign has insisted that its ad merely states the truth: Jeeps
are not currently made in China and soon will be, creating jobs there
instead of at home. “It would be better if they expanded production in the
U.S. instead of expanding in China,” said Stuart Stevens, a senior adviser
to Mr. Romney.

“That is absolutely bereft of any fundamental understanding of the global
automotive industry,” Mr. Martin said. “All global manufacturers, whether
General Motors, Ford, Chrysler or VW, build historically in the markets in
which we sell.”

Mr. Martin said that General Motors had invested $7.3 billion in United
States production since 2009 and “brought nearly 19,000 back to work.”

Mr. Stevens said that he agreed with Mr. Martin’s statement that General
Motors’ recovery should be a source of bipartisan pride, but that Mr.
Romney’s proposed policies would make it easier for companies like G.M. to
produce cars for export.

Jim Rutenberg reported from Toledo, and Jeremy W. Peters from New York.


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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