I don't know about you, but I love election season. It really reminds me of a quote from the Mark Wahlberg movie "shooter". In it, a corrupt US senator from Montana says something to the effect of "The truth? You want the truth? The truth is what I say it is." In This article I find those words to be more true than anyone else's in real life. Jeep says Romney is lying and Romney says Jeep is moving jobs to China. Both are right. It blows my mind, but both have an argument using the same facts.
Jeep: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China,” “It is inaccurate to suggest anything different.
Romney: suggests Jeep, a recipient of federal bailout money, will soon outsource American jobs to China
Fact: Chrysler, Jeep’s parent company, does not in fact have plans to cut its American work force but is considering opening a facility in China where it would produce Jeeps for sale locally.
So no current jobs are being shipped to China. Point Jeep. However, rather than upping US production and exporting vehicles to China, Jeep will simply open a factory there. So potential jobs are in fact leaving US soil. In effect, point Romney campaign.
My Questions to you are these: Given the importance Ohio (and Michigan to some extent) have to the outcome of this election, Will the ability to spin facts regarding the auto industry be the deciding factor? Is there another issue you think will decide these swing states? Who is right in the situation above?
For fun here is a video of Jeeps doing awesome things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXHpWaGR_K4
ReplyDeleteIts hard to disagree with either Jeep or Romney in this particular situation simply based on this article. However, the further issue of the auto industry and its effect on the election is a major consideration. I think that the auto industry will have some impact on the upcoming election as it applies to the bailout plan of Obama and the stance that Romney has taken. Although this influence may not be very large, it may be enough to swing the election in favor of one candidate as they try to win the key state of Ohio. Its kind of hard to believe, however, that something like the auto industry could in fact be on of the deciding factors of the upcoming election.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, voters have to deal with this "he said, she said" style of argumentation in many aspects of the election, not just specifically the auto industry. It gets so old to hear all of these contradictory statements made, whether by each candidate in regards to the other, or like in this case, a candidate and a company. The worst part is, many voters are not able to become as educated as they may like to be on the candidates and their stances, so often times there are indeed cases in which it comes down to "whoever can spin facts" the best will get votes. Elections are turning into a game of perception. Whatever candidate is perceived to be the best option will win, not necessarily who the most honest or trustworthy. So yes I do believe that in this particular instance of the auto industry, whoever can portray the most conceivably truthful facts about JEEP may win some votes. However, I do know that Romney has already left sort of a bad taste in the mouths of those involved in the auto industry, so that may play a factor in who they decide to believe.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it will be a deciding factor, but it will be an important one. These swing states are greatly affected by the auto industry and so it important for them to know that they will benefit from whatever decision is made in regards to that topic by the next President. There would be a big number of potential jobs in the auto industry in the case of improvement so people would be incline to support that decision.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Jeep is in the wrong for wanting to open up production in China. They are manufacturing in China and SELLING in China. This simply means that Chinese consumers are interested in buying Jeeps and to avoid unnecessary shipping and transportation cost, Jeep is choosing to produce locally. Companies go where their consumers are. Since Jeep is a recipient of the bailout, they need to make money and be cost effective. It would be silly to make cars in the U.S. and ship them to consumers in China. Jeep know exactly what they are doing, and by increasing their consumer base they are staying in business so they can pay back money owed. Romney’s argument doesn't make sense; Jeep is simply acting like an efficient business.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note Travis, I really like the title of this post.
The problem with opening a plant here and shipping them to china is that it would make the vehicle PROHIBITIVELY expensive in a market where a lower cost vehicle can exponentially expand it's target market. The extra cost of labor and then the cost to transport, across the country, then across the pacific in an era of constantly increasing fuel prices is a ludacris idea. It could do something for a while but then when prices of transport end up cutting into margins of profit, you have a multi-million dollar wasted investment. Without building the plant there, Jeep would simply be selling cars in paltry numbers in china (because of increased base price) and no extra jobs would be added anyway. Instead the opening of an entire new production facility allows the company to first off hire a new management team, and then would require a lot of new bureaucratic infrastructure to keep the two entities in line with each other. That is the only possible place where we could see job growth here. So in effect I do not agree that it is any point in here for Romney, besides a grab for headlines and another point for misleading the American public again.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this is dishonest on the part of the Romney campaign. If anything, Romney should be lauding the expansion of the Jeep brand in China, but he would rather play fast and loose with the facts so that the story fits the narrative he wants to convey. The production of Jeeps in China will add to the American GDP, and profit an American company. Rather than shipping jobs off shore, the new plants will more likely increase Chrysler's demand for American engineers, designers, and other high skill workers.
ReplyDelete