Then-presidential challenger Mitt Romney set off a firestorm with a campaign ad that accused President Obama of forcing the sale of “Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China.” The ad eventually even garnered a dubious honor by a fact-checking organization. As it turns out, Romney was right after all.
When the controversy first erupted, Italian-born Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne was unequivocal in denying that Jeep had plans to move any of its operations to China. That was on Oct. 30, one week before the presidential election.
“I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China,” he wrote in a letter to employees, according to NBC News. “Jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the United States and will constitute the backbone of the brand. … It is inaccurate to suggest anything different.”
However, Marchione dodged the issue. The Romney ad never said that the Jeep brand was going to move to China — it only said that Chrysler was going to build Jeeps in China.
Nonetheless, PolitiFact dubbed the Romney ad the “Lie of the Year” and described it as “a lie told in the critical state of Ohio in the final days of a close campaign.” PolitiFact added: “It originated with a conservative blogger, who twisted an accurate news story into a falsehood. Then it picked up steam when the Drudge Report ran with it.”
What a difference a few months make. Monday’s edition of The Detroit News reported that Marchionne announced that some models of the Jeep brand would be built in China.
“As part of our global expansion of the Jeep brand, there are some cars — that because of the price position in the market — can never be made in the U.S. and exported,” Marchionne said at the North American International Auto Show. “We’re going to be announcing the first step in the globalization of Jeep [in China]. There’s another one that’s going to come in Russia. These things are part of a natural process of expansion.”
Marchione advised that while the Jeep’s premier models — Wrangler and Grand Cherokee — will continue to be American-made, “If you tell me I cannot make a [Jeep] Patriot somewhere else, I might as well go out of the market.”
If anyone was misleading here, it wasn’t Romney — it was Marchionne. The decision to add even a part of Jeep’s manufacturing operations to the Far East isn’t made lightly — it requires months of negotiation.
One can appreciate the need for a certain degree of secrecy during such planning stages. That being the case, it would have been better — and far more honest — had he not said anything at all.
Here’s the ad that started it all:
About Michael Dorstewitz
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If anyone knows who is doing business with China, its Mittens! Heaven only knows how much US manufacturing he outsourced to China during his career. So yes, lets suggest that WE made a huge error in not electing him president because he was right about yet another victory for China… Only in America!
Thats right MM but just another of many lies told by Obama, his helpers like Axlerod,, Immelt, on and on. How’s the economy doint since the re-election? Employment, how about the addtional taxes EVERYONE is paying not just the “millionaires and billionaires”, Live in a dream world my friend you got 4 more years.
Hey middleman……state some facts…..not conjecture!!!
And Thomas…..yes he gets 4 more years of this lying, arrogant ,man……that is if we survive that long!
I would much rather have a president that knows & understands business and how it works, both here & globally. If the politicians didn’t keep adding taxes & regulations to the businesses in this country, to the point where they finacially can’t make a profit here, then they wouldn’t have to move things overseas. The media didn’t cover it, but Obama spent billions of our “stimulous” money for Chinese engineers to come here & build a bridge here in the U.S. Why did he do that? To keep relations good with China? If you owned & ran a business, wouldn’t you find the most efficient way to run it ? If you need to buy widgets for your business, would you buy those that cost $10 from here, or for $2 from somewhere else? The ones that cost $10 have to mark theirs up because that company has to pay 2 or 3 different taxes & regulation fees – which they pass on in the cost. If you had a lot of money, your financial advisor would recommend that you “diversify” or put a little here & a little there, in different countries so it doesn’t affect you if their economies drop. If Romney would have been elected, I don’t think my (and all working people) pay checks would not just have been cut. – paying higher taxes that Obama promised would NOT rise one dime if we don’t make more than $250,000. Just face it – the man lies & lies to turn you against people that make money and to say what you want to hear, Too bad he never intends to do most of what he promised except to ” transform the nation” into a weaker, socialist country.
What gets me most is how Obama keeps WHINING in the news, critisizing Congress for not helping him accomplish his agenda!!! Romney should have won. We would know the truth of many things!
What a shock yet again Romney proves right. The only people surprised are the Oblama supporters who think the sun rises and sets from their King’s rear.
You miss the poiunt, MiddleMan. Romney’s ad was factual, but with the help of the irresponsible media, citizens were con vinced it was a lie and voters opinions were swayed.
Now, when it is too late. The truth comes out. Romney was right.
Mm the difference between Romney investing in china, is he used private money. Obama used public ie; tax dollars to invest in Chrysler that then invests in china. What a businessman does with his money is his own business, what a government invest the people’s money in is taxpayer business.
middleman keep drinking the koolaid if it makes you feel good just dont get offended when we call you stupid
Dear Middleman,
Ignorance is bliss. Enjoy your bliss ’cause meanwhile your president is making sub-optimal decisions for the country as a whole to placate the unions, etc.
With the help of our biased press charisma won out over competence and every taxpayer will suffer as a result.
You can fool a majority of the people some of the time as we discovered last November.
you know usually I just ignore the kind of comment MM just made.. but this one is so full of ” I love Obama and nothing not even the truth could sway me ” that it is actually , well almost , physically sickening… I will never understand how a thinking people could possible extract from this pretender , so much dedication, no matter the facts . there will be a tremendous price to pay for one of the most outlandish votes this country has ever seen.. it’s like you all did drink some kind of drugged kool aid.. and it changed the way you think… but , in the end, it will not only cost us a great deal , but it will cost you too… you didn’t get out of this free.. you just don’t know it yet.. stupid cannot be cured
You are so spot on Paul
1. MiddleMan pretty much represents the typical whitewashed mind. What is the theme of the article? Liberals lied when someone told the inconvenient truth.
2. Liberals owe an apology to Mitt Romney for the real lies on the truth and for twisting the facts from the very beginning. (Wait, that won’t be unnecessary, they had proven themselves ignorant)
3. Do you expect the idiots to understand what the capital venture firm does? So the best they could do is to change the word from venture to vulture as the way liberal vultures devoured the truth and still are doing and will continue to do as that is their nature. As one who had been in restructuring team to help the failing companies, helping to outsource has never the task in the contracts.
4. It’s understood that the sheep of the shepherd who doesn’t understand the running of a lemonade stand could only win the argument by using his vulture-propaganda to the uninformed voters. Just sayin’ as it is.
Middleman – It’s time you liberals/socialist/communist or whatever the hell you idiots are, start providing a few facts, instead of spouting off the same old Obama talking points. When Obama is caught in a lie or is guilty of some scandalous behavior, you people try to deflect the light to someone or something else. Romney was right, on this issue and many more; yet, you try to make Romney look like the bad guy. When Romney was conducting business, he did what the market mandated, as a business man, not the President. If the damn unions weren’t responsible for driving up the cost of manufacturing and if the Democrats hadn’t caused our corporate taxes to become some of the highest in the world, countries like China wouldn’t be getting American jobs. The CEO of Jeep won’t come out and admit, because Obama gave him and American owned company, that unions are one of the main reasons he wants to build the vehicles in China. The people of Ohio are finding out that Obama lied to them and has cost them many jobs in the coal industry and now, the auto industry. When everything goes down the tube, people like you need to be held accountable for causing the fall of this country.
I am not suggesting. I am out and out saying absolutely YES we made a huge huge mistake by not electing Romney. We now have a dictator in office who is out to destroy our country
Jeeze, MIDDLEMAN, if there are more MIDDLEMAN, USA will become 3rd world country in a little bit. OH, 3rd world country with a Mussie Dictator!
It looks as if middleman has an IQ of room temperature. Good luck on your 2% tax increase on people who make more than $50,000. You must also think that makes one wealthy too. Idiots….
So….what do we have here, the Italians helping Oblammer to get elected as well. What a pack of liars all around.
Well gee, I could say I told you so…but the morons on the left wouldn’t be listening anyway. But I am writing Chrysler to let them know I will NEVER buy one of their cars, trucks, etc. because they CHOSE to undermine the USA and I am done with them all. I’ll stick with my American made Japanese car! How ironic!
Read this article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2012/11/01/memo-to-mitt-romney-building-jeeps-in-china-is-good-for-america/
It was written Nov 1. When you read that article, you will realize that the things being written in this article that Michael claims were being hidden by Chrysler prior to the election were in fact openly known and openly admitted by Chrysler. The people of Ohio knew that Chrysler planned to build some jeeps in China. They also knew that the jeeps built in China were going to stay in China and so no jobs building cars for the US market (or Europe, etc) were going to be lost to China. When Romney said that Chrysler was moving “all” production to China, he was saying something untrue. His ad, although carefully worded, strongly implied that ALL production was going to China. Your comment here clearly shows that you stupidly believe that Chrysler is building cars in China that will be sold in the US.
It really doesn’t matter where you’re selling them…….they’re still not made in America, paying Americans to build them. So who nloses??!!
If you had read the article it stated these cars that will be produced in China were never gonna be built in the U.S. Because the cost of production and shipping were too high. So the production in China if true to word will not affect production in the U.S. No different than McDonalds being opened in China and serving the locals. The burger produced in China is only going to be sold to the locals. You aren’t going to purchase burger in China and have it shipped. Too many whiners.
Whoa, dude, jcm52, what are you talking about? Did you even listen to the ad? Did you hear him say they were moving “all production to China”? Man, you are so tied up in your theories that you didn’t even listen. He said they will build cars in China. That is all. You chose to add the idea “all Jeep cars in China” into the topic. He didn’t say that. You then say he strongly implied “all”. First of all, that contradicts your previous sentence. Second, just because you think that doesn’t mean it’s true. I hear him say that Jeep will start making Jeeps in China. This is significant because Jeeps have never been made outside the US before. I don’t hear “they’re going to stop building Jeeps in the US and move them all to China”. Third, let’s pretend I’m wrong and he did intend to make it sound like uncritical thinkers would take it to mean Jeep production would stop in the US. So what? He’s a politician. Just like your Obama. Did you not recognize how many times Obama mislead people with carefully worded phrases? It’s politics, and may the best man win. Too bad he didn’t.
ahhhh… context:
But later that night [10/22/2012] at a campaign stop in Defiance, Ohio, Romney added a new line to his stump speech:
“I saw a story today, that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China,” he said, to boos from the audience. “I will fight for every good job in America. I’m going to fight to make sure trade is fair, and if it’s fair, America will win.”
Reporters mentioned the mistake in their stories the next day, it lit up the Internet, and the liberal cable channel MSNBC attacked Romney for not knowing the facts.
from: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/dec/12/lie-year-2012-Romney-Jeeps-China/
“You [jcm52] chose to add the idea “all Jeep cars in China” into the topic. He didn’t say that. You then say he strongly implied “all”. First of all, that contradicts your previous sentence”
Okay – let’s do this in slow motion.
Romney said “Jeep… is thinking of moving all production to China”. Those are the words that crossed his lips. So yes, my claim that Romney said that was true. Then I said that the ad was carefully worded but strongly implied “all”. What I said was consistent and accurate, your accusation notwithstanding.
The remainder of the discussion about that ad at that time (and you can check it out by reading contemporaneous news articles) was about whether or not the new production in China would replace production in the US. It was not about whether or not there would be production in China – this was a widely known fact, acknowledged by Chrysler. So when the article here finishes with “If anyone was misleading here, it wasn’t Romney — it was Marchionne… it would have been better — and far more honest — had he not said anything at all.” the article is using revisionist history. It’s pretending that Chrysler claimed that no production would happen in China when Chrysler had openly stated that production would happen, what specific model would be built, and where those cars would be sold.
Just keep in mind, before you can move ALL production to China, you first have to start by moving “SOME” production to China, you dont just start making a million cars in a new place. But you can move some, and when the costs are significantly lower you move more and more until oppps it makes sense to move ALL production to China and then have it shipped back to the states.
I think the truth in Romneys statement will become even more clear a few years down the road!!
“They also knew that the jeeps built in China were going to stay in China and so no jobs building cars for the US market (or Europe, etc) were going to be lost to China.”
Are you kidding me ? I just didn’t know most Americans are thaaat ignorant. If Americans are to make everything we sell overseas at offshore, “we don’t lose any jobs” and it’s ok? Really?? Zero knowledge on concepts like trade balance or GDP.
Ana I swore off of a lifetime of GM cars after the borrowing crap. Never buy another one!
Ditto.
As Earl Pitt would say “Wake up Amerika” learn to speak Chineese
if one does study the whole thing of jobs being stolen by the Chinese is somewhat of a myth. Even though some jobs have moved over seas the greatest thing that is stealing jobs here is automation. More and more jobs are being lost to Robots then Chinese workers . Instead of learning Chinese how about learning C+ or Java or other programming languages because in the economy to come a person who doesn’t invest into learning about computers and robotics will be left sitting in the soup lines
It is sad. Our representatives do whatever they can to ship jobs overseas. It seems like our biggest export is jobs.
It is VERY sad. Democrats will tell you trickle down doesn’t work even when done correctly. All I can say is REALLY?? EVERYTHING trickles down whether you like it or not. If you make it too expensive for a businessman to do business in this country he WILL do it somewhere else….which means less people working here, which means less money spent on wants, which means less jobs for those who produce those wants and so on. You keep a successful businessman in this country and it benefits everyone that works for him, and the people they buy from etc….. COME ON people…..they’re killing this country!!!
Do some research. More jobs are being lost to automation and robots then to overseas workers
The Biggest mistake we made not electing Mitt!
Oh no, Jeep is localizing production for the Jeeps they sell to China! Mitt Romney was so right, its all one big Obama conspiracy. This must mean that ALL of our production is going to China even though that’s not what is being said here. I must eat the BS for breakfast or my republican friends won’t talk to me.
Give me a freaking break.
Soon enough more and more Jeep production will move to China/overseas and they will leave only a bit here for political reasons. Wanna bet?
PS Your Republican “friends” don”t want to speak with you ’cause your head is up your arse.
KC
So true. LOL.
Guys, c’mon. Jeep had never denied Jobs in China during the election.. What they vehemently contested was Romney’s ad claiming that Jobs in America were being shipped to China, this is NOT happening. Jobs are not being lost.
Stop spinning!
For those like Jon who are saying no jobs are lost….What Marchionne said was they are MOVING the Jeep Patriot part making to China & Russia. “— that because of the price position in the market — can never be made in the U.S. and exported,”. The Jeep Patriot is CURRENTLY made in the US, so they are MOVING!! I am guesing you are just trying to pretend that you didn’t listen to a bunch of lies the 1st go around? Marchionne said they are MOVING the Jeep Patriot part making to CHINA & RUSSIA because it is too expensive in our Economy to make them here!! Which is TRUE because of people like OBAMA. They didn’t say “starting a NEW line in China” Marchionne is MOVING production there for cheaper costs and that TAKES AWAY JOBS. And even if they weren’t “moving” and were only “starting a new line”, it sure as HECK wouldn’t be adding jobs to OUR economy where it is needed. Instead, Marchionne is supplying CHINA & RUSSIA with more jobs. Awesome! I agree with Dannan. Politicians are ALL crooks, but I sure would prefer a rich business man to a man who raises taxes after he promised not to, wants to raise the debt ceiling as he said would be stupid before and whose preacher talked out his BUTT and all the media did was cover it up! Let a Caucasian President go to a church for YEARS where the preacher said all but Whites should burn in Hell and see what would happen!!!!!!!! He would be hung out to dry! But all these Obamers who stare at him with coated eyes just nodding & smiling like a bunch of drones think this is great news and must be someone elses fault than the Great Obama! Enjoy the next 4 years and a smaller paychecks! Maybe next time you will find out more facts before you just smile & nod.
The Patriot is made in the US. It will continue to be made in the US. All US-bought Patriots will be made in the US.
The Patriot is currently not for sale in China. It will later be for sale in China. But first, it will need to be built in China. Just like Japanese companies build their US-sold cars in the US, American companies build their Chinese-sold cars in China. For a number of reasons, building a car in one country and then shipping it across a massive ocean is expensive. For this reason, cars sold in China will be made in China, and cars sold in North America are made in North America.
it would have been better — and far more honest — had the author of this article not said anything at all.
Chrysler said BEFORE the election that this was their plan. Just because the article you’ve just read implies otherwise doesn’t change that.
Let me ask you this, are you a CEO or a CEF in Chrysler Co? How do you know that Chrysler won’t make part in China or Russia?, why the cost to make in China is cheaper then in our country because they don’t charge a stupid tax and a stupid union fee or they don’t give money to some lazy ass laying around the house and hand down
if one can assume that they would be made there, But there are some factors that would limit that. 1 shipping those parts across 5000 miles of ocean when the price of diesel has nearly tripled in the last 4 years is not cheap at all also when the total cost of manufacturing is added up (wages shipping handling etc) it is actually cheaper to make the parts in places like South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama or Texas (look up how many new manufacturing plants are being built there)
Also more and more manufacturing is being built by robots which cost absolutely nothing other then maintenance to operate
Little did we know Bobble Heads are real “live” people. But why are we surprised that they exists,
when our Public Educational Systems has effectively dumbed down a generation of voters and the Media has abdicated it’s Journalistic responsibilities by not informing and or miss informing the masses. Actually the Main Stream Media has betrayed our once great “Republic.”
They may not be taking jobs from those already employed…..but they’re still taking jobs from those they could employ in the states!!!
You say stop spinning??
I say start using the brain God gave you!
That’s not correct. Any job that gets done in another country, is a job lost in America, whether it started here or not.
it makes sense… Toyota honda nissan and others do it here why cant our auto makers do it there..it makes sense and no they are not moving the jeep factory to china all they are doing is making the jeep products that are going to be sold there…there
Building jeeps in China to sell to Chinese means no jobs lost? Dead brain or low IQ?
Did the Chinese manufacture the goods that they sold to Americans in America?
Yep,OHIO voted for the liar, not the one who told the truth!!!!. Just think fellow BUCKEYES, we could have made the diffeence.
This is another example of so called citizens selling out their country.
We all give our thoughts on many issues. However, no one does anything about it
as long we accept it. This country will cease to exist as we have known it
Paradise lost. However perhaps never regained