Posted on 10/23/2012 11:12:06 AM PDT by jazusamo
American taxpayers should prepare themselves for another slap in the face, courtesy of the much-ballyhooed Obama auto bailouts. After spending about $85 billion to bail out Chrysler, General Motors and Ally Financial (formerly known as GMAC), taxpayers are being rewarded by Chrysler's parent company, Fiat, announcing that it is preparing to build its Jeep brand vehicles in China. In addition, according to a Bloomberg report, Fiat may end up building all of its vehicles in China , threatening the loss of more manufacturing jobs should the decision be carried out to move Chrysler manufacturing out of America.
Italian automaker, Fiat, was gifted an ownership interest in Chrysler during the Obama-orchestrated bankruptcy process. Fiat paid nothing for the ownership stake, other than agreeing to transfer some of its technology. The Italian company later purchased an additional stake, giving it majority ownership and officially making Chrysler a foreign-owned company. It now seems that American jobs will be lost as a result as Fiat appears to be trying to maximize profits by transferring Chrysler's manufacturing operations to China.
This is not the first instance of China benefiting from the auto bailouts. GM has also made a commitment to expand production in China, even moving its electric vehicle manufacturing platform to that country . The Chinese job creation is coming at an expense to American taxpayers. The latest estimate of taxpayers' losses for the auto bailouts, as recently reported by the Washington Post, is $25 billion . While President Obama campaigns on the "success" of the auto bailouts, the high price tag brings into question just how successful they were. The probability of future job losses in America as manufacturing moves to China adds to the argument that the bailouts were not optimally planned out.
The Jeep brand is arguably Chrysler's (as well as Fiat's) most valuable nameplate. A once venerable American brand is now owned by the Italians and apparently will soon be built in China. The losses to taxpayers on only the Chrysler portion of the auto bailouts are reported to be $1.5 billion. It is increasingly looking like the money was not well-spent if Fiat's Jeep announcement is any indication.
Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.
I bought Jeeps in the past, not more.
Chrysler must have gotten the tax deduction (about which Obama talks endlessly) for moving jobs overseas.
Hey, China needs Jeeps too. They got some pretty rough terrain over there.
Well just damn Chrysler. I’m on my 3rd Grand Cherokee, WAS soon to be looking at buying my 4th. No more.
Was pricing Jeep Cherokees this AM.. Have been considering them and the new Ford explorer.
The decision has now been made for me!
Who wants to drive a Jeep Won Ton????
Why worry about what an Italian car company is doing?
/sarc
Are the Jeeps built in China going to be imported into the US? Or kept in China for their domestic market and possibly exported to non US markets?
The fact is that Jeeps are already manufactured in China. After Cherokee (the XJ, not the Grand Cherokee) production ceased in favor of the Liberty, the tooling was sold to China and production restarted over there. I know a LOT of people who would love a new 1984 body style Cherokee ... Unfortunately the tooling transfer agreement prohibited the ChiCom Cherokees from being imported into the US.
We need import tariffs, and not just if China cheats. The wage differential is so big with China that China doesn’t have to cheat to take our jobs.
And opening up free trade with South America prior to reaching full employment is going to be a disaster too.
Toyota is now more an American car company than GM and Chrysler...
Toyota is now more an American car company than GM and Chrysler...
Sorry, been trying to post since posting the thread and it’s about impossible. Don’t know if it’s me or FR, everyone else seems to be posting. Hope this posts.
Tank yu fo bail out roun-eye....
I’ve had Jeep Grand Cherokees for 27yrs; no more. I also really wanted a new Chevy Suburban or GMC Acadia, but no way to any GM products, now. And the Toyota Land Cruisers are way over-priced; darnit. I’ll now go to Ford if/when my current 2002 Grand Cherokee Laredo needs replacing.
Talk Radio (to wit Limbaugh) is pro Free Trade, until that changes NOTHING changes. Romney is a Free Trader, no doubt.
It’ll be cold day in he!! before I buy a car made in China.
I just picked up my 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 that I ordered from the factory. I’m glad I did this before the assembly moved to China, but already the engines are made in Mexico, so the ‘Made in America’ label is only partially true at this time anyways.
In any case, I would not have even considered it if the thing was being assembled in China.
I bought a brand new Mustang. I just found out that the transmission is made in China. Sucks.
This is journalistic malpractice.
There is not plan to move all production to China.
They want to restart production in China for the Chinese market, not for export to North America.
This is the stupidity of the media and even Romney fell for it.
This is journalistic malpractice.
There is not plan to move all production to China.
They want to restart production in China for the Chinese market, not for export to North America.
This is the stupidity of the media and even Romney fell for it.
... ‘Made in America’
More like ‘(Partially)-Assembled in America’, these days.
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