Both of our Jeeps were made in US. May be last Jeeps we buy. Straight 6= bombproof. 5.7L, so far, shits and gets. GL 550 is looking good.
The Big Three are “hurting” because of retirement benefits - of so they claim.
You know the wages and benefits that made Detroit and Oakland County (up until 2007 the second wealthiest county in the nation supposedly).
Check the benefits. They come here because of CHEAPER wage structure than their own nations, they don’t pay taxes for work done on the premises, they have received tax abatements or reduced property costs locally and sometimes at the state level and they avoid tariffs.
May happen quicker then you think; one report says Obamacare will force people into part-time positions in-order to avoid paying the initial insurance requirements.
Going from a 40hr week to a 28 hour week will cripple most families.
Last of the Daimler Commanders - ditto for my wife’s Dodge Caravan. Won’t buy a Chinaysler - THAT’S for sure! :mad:
Here is the article from Jalopnik, another blog but with a good reputation for accuracy. As in the OP’s news article, the Bloomberg article that I posted above is the original source. Funny how the OP’s source cherry-picked a couple of lines from the article to completely mis-characterize the data. Jalopnik pretty much cuts to the chase, making this a newsworthy event if you are Chinese Jeep buyer, or a Fiat/Chrysler shareholder.
Bold italics are mine.
1st Gear: Chrysler May Build All Its Jeep Models In China
Bloomberg reports that Chrysler is planning to return Jeep production to China, and may eventually assemble all its Jeep models there for sale in the Chinese market. According to Bloomberg, Fiat is in “very detailed conversations” with its Chinese partner, Guangzhou Automobile Group , about making Jeeps in the world’s largest auto market, said Mike Manley, chief operating officer of Fiat and Chrysler in Asia. Chrysler hasn’t built Jeeps there since before Fiat took control in 2009. You might remember that Chrysler ran into some problems with its technology being stolen. But Fiat sees a big opportunity for Jeep in China, especially in light of the market’s collapse in Europe. “The volume opportunity for us is very significant,” Manley says.
Articles I have read with interviews of the workers say they are happy with the pay AND benefits. I have not read an article in a while on it so don’t have any links. But I have read several articles in the last year that talk about the influx of foreign auto manufacturing in the US.
They are building cars here, for this market, because the cheap dollar makes it attractive compared to building them in Japan/Europe at the higher cost of the Yen/Euro compared to the dollar and then selling them here.
Most of the plants the workers have voted down unions.
The UAW has shot themselves in the head long term with their demands. No one is saying that they have to accept 3rd world wages, but the unrealistic level of pay and benefits for factory assembly work means they will have to get realistic or face loss of jobs as they go overseas.
And how many of you here who don’t like this going to China, STILL shop at WalMart, thus supporting China? Or is it OK for some things and NOT others? I avoid Wally World for this very reason. IF, I have to go there, I will read the manufacture label, and only buy made in America @ Wally World. Yes there are a FEW things there, made here.
They wont be shutting production of the Jeep line down in the US. They are just expanding to the China market. Jeeps will still be made here in the US to be sold to the US market. They are just building factories in China to meet the Chinese market for the Jeep line.
Can I say I blame them? Hell no, its the same thing as VW, BMW, Toyota building factories over here to meet our market needs. Its smart business and no American is going to loose their jobs.
They were looking at putting a Walmart up near me and the locals went nuts. Walmart tried to appease them by saying that they wouldn’t sell guns or ammo there- the only thing I buy at Walmart is WWB. They made all kinds of claims that Walmart puts local merchants out of business. I called BS. Walmart doesn’t put local merchants out of business, the buying customers do when they shift their purchases to Walmart. Walmart can offer all kinds of low prices all day long, but if people buy from local stores it won’t matter a wit. PLUS if you are competing with Walmart with the same crap that they sell but at a higher price, you really are screwing people.
And stop calling it an ‘auto bailout’. It was an auto union bailout. Just ask the white-collar workers at Delphi that got totally screwed, or the public pension plans in Indiana that got decimated while the unions went to the front of the line, or the dealers that got whacked. If that is ‘saving’ the auto industry, I can’t wait for Obamacare.
So does that make my Jeep a collectible, “pre-China” model? Sweet.
Exactly. We run into this in the airline industry daily. Everybody else is willing to volunteer you to take a paycut so they can get cheaper flights. How bout you take a pay cut by paying more for your ticket so I can get a pay raise. Thats not fair according to the same person who just told you to take a paycut.:rolleyes:
More like those who support Obama don’t care. China wants to have Jeeps? Build them here and ship them over. Funny how the President bashes Romney for supposedly wanting to ship jobs to China, but not a peep about this. Or the fact that the head of his own Jobs Council has shipped GE jobs to China. And it amazes me to see how many people are driving foreign cars with Obama stickers on them.
I’ve said this before, if you support the President, it means you supported the auto bailout. You should be driving a GM or Chrysler car/truck.
All automobile manufacturers are global companies these days. It doesn’t matter where they’re incorporated at. Whomever you buy a car from still supports jobs in the U.S… Someone has to import them, offload them at the dock, enter them for U.S. registry, transport them, sell them, order parts for and service them, etc…
As globalization marches on, we’ll all wind up with a lower standard of living. It’s inevitable. Exceptionalism is slowly being phased out. 
Let’s try this again.
70% of GMCs are already. Cadillac was a sponsor at a pro communist film unveiling in China.
Simple solution:
[A] Corporations are NOT Persons;
[b] Tariffs are to protect OUR Mfg Industry and pay for Federal Gov’t.
The problem is we apply one set of rules to domestic manufacturers (OSHA, Unemployment, SSA, EPA, DOT, Healthcare, etc.) and practically no rules to foreign (slave, child, hours, pollution, safety, etc.).
Pretty dang hard for a domestic company to compete on price under those conditions, so the other product/service characteristics have to far, far outweigh price to stay competitive.
We should level the playing field. Require foreign manufacturers to prove through independent oversight they comply with all of our rules (not bloody likely!), eliminate our rules, or slap tariffs on imports to match overhead costs of domestic (of course this would be corrupted and twisted by favoritism).
While tariffs seem like the easiest solution, I suspect it would just lead to further manipulation (more mercantilism). I think removing the onerous regulations from domestic producers would be the more libertarian approach. Once you get government out of the business of regulating business then we might be able to eliminate the favoritism currently implemented toward large corporations that squashes small business. Businesses would be far less able to oppress workers if they were not being protected by government. Unions then might serve a viable purpose once again as long as they were not protected by government either.
Very complex situation where you can not just unravel one thread, or add another. I doubt our politicians will make the effort to doa comprehensive rethink on domestic manufacturing so we are likely to see more and more move to the lowest cost labor pool: China.
To hell with comparative advantage and division of labor! Who needs silly things like economic efficiency?
People that call for tariffs have a poor understanding of basic economics.
China is nothing but a 1870s-1910’s America:
Low pay, child labor, long hours, strict rules for employees, zero to no benefits, but is able to out produce everyone.
I’m not saying that those things are “ok”, but it’s hard to compete with a comparable Chinese factory if you are paying your workers $30/hour+ to put two parts together.