Auto companies hit back against Romney ads

[Penny Lane 8,159]

(CNN) – Democrats on Tuesday ramped up their pressure on the Romney campaign over two new ads on the auto bailout, as each side sought to sway voters in the crucial battleground state of Ohio.

Spokespeople for Obama's re-election effort pointed to quotes from General Motors and Chrysler executives blasting Mitt Romney over a new round of ads that accuse the auto giants of shifting jobs overseas.

"The ad is cynical campaign politics at its worst," General Motors spokesman Greg Martin told The New York Times. "We think creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back in this country should be a source of bipartisan pride."

The Romney radio ad, which aired in Ohio Tuesday, claims GM plans to double the number of cars built in China and that Chrysler plans to start making Jeeps in the same country.

"Mitt Romney: He'll stand up for the auto industry in Ohio, not China," the ad's narrator concludes.

The ad follows a television spot released over the weekend, which makes the same argument and faced wide criticism in recent days for its accuracy.

"Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China," the television spot's narrator says.

Romney originally floated that idea at a rally in Defiance, Ohio last week. He quoted a report about the majority owner of Chrysler, Fiat, saying it was considering producing its signature Jeep in China.

However, the Bloomberg report to which Romney was apparently referring said that the potential move would only affect cars produced for Chinese consumers.

Chrysler Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications Gualberto Ranieri emphatically denied the possibility U.S. production would be affected, writing in an online posting, "Let's set the record straight: Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China."

The ad was rated "Pants on Fire" by the independent, fact-checking group PolitiFact.com. And former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden on Monday tag teamed in their attacks against Romney over the ad.

The Romney campaign did not highlight their television ad–or Tuesday's radio ad–with a press release to reporters, as they have with nearly every other spot, but CNN's ad tracker Kantar Media CMAG, spotted the ad running on broadcast television stations in Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio – two Ohio manufacturing strongholds.

Martin, the GM representative, said Romney's ads show that the candidate is "bereft of any fundamental understanding of the global automotive industry.

"All global manufacturers, whether General Motors, Ford, Chrysler or VW, build historically in the markets in which we sell," he continued.

Romney's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/30/auto-companies-hit-back-against-romney-ads/?hpt=hp_t2

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I'd love to see the pro-Romney spin on this story. People have already proven he's a liar, and instead of backing down, he airs some TV and radio ads in addition to his ridiculous speeches.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

GM cars are ASSEMBLED in the US, but the Chrysler guy knows that most of their parts come from China.

GM is a disgrace to the Auto industry and has been for decades. It should have been left to rot and die. It wouldn't have died and a normal bankruptcy would have been just fine.

It's funny really, the most "American-Made" cars are Toyotas and that's sad figuring that they're a Japanese company. Though Ford is right behind them.

The bailouts were a mistake that started with GWB (though Obama likes to take credit for all of it), just like half the other ####### W did.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

You are focusing on the absolutely wrong thing. Romney is claiming these companies are going to take away American jobs and ship them overseas. This is false. And it seems nobody seems to care that it's false because they keep saying it.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

You are focusing on the absolutely wrong thing. Romney is claiming these companies are going to take away American jobs and ship them overseas. This is false. And it seems nobody seems to care that it's false because they keep saying it.

Technically Romney is half-right. Assembling is one thing, building from the ground up is another. Americans want cheap cars, so the majority of the labor on these cars is done overseas whether we like it or not.

They don't need to ship them overseas because they've been there for quite awhile already. It's a lot easier to assemble them here though still due to the cost of transporting large vehicles from country to country. Even companies like Kia, Hyundai, etc. assemble their cars here to sell to the American public to keep their vehicles competitive. Though funny part being, they're still built better than any GM car is. I suppose that's the difference between Korean parts versus the Chinese parts that GM uses.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Technically Romney is half-right. Assembling is one thing, building from the ground up is another. Americans want cheap cars, so the majority of the labor on these cars is done overseas whether we like it or not.

They don't need to ship them overseas because they've been there for quite awhile already. It's a lot easier to assemble them here though still due to the cost of transporting large vehicles from country to country. Even companies like Kia, Hyundai, etc. assemble their cars here to sell to the American public to keep their vehicles competitive. Though funny part being, they're still built better than any GM car is. I suppose that's the difference between Korean parts versus the Chinese parts that GM uses.

Nobody's arguing that manufacturing happens overseas. Everyone knows that.

That's not what Romney is saying though.

He's attempting to scare Ohio voters in manufacturing towns into beleiving that their jobs are at risk or that potential jobs will be shipped to China instead of put into place in the US. The company themselves are saying that's absolutely not true, but instead of backing down, Romney just says it MORE.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Evylin

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Nobody's arguing that manufacturing happens overseas. Everyone knows that.

That's not what Romney is saying though.

He's attempting to scare Ohio voters in manufacturing towns into beleiving that their jobs are at risk or that potential jobs will be shipped to China instead of put into place in the US. The company themselves are saying that's absolutely not true, but instead of backing down, Romney just says it MORE.

Do you realize what would happen to GM stock (i/e taxpayer owned GM stock) if they flat out said, "yup, we're building a new plant in China to keep up with manufacturing."

A company will never flat out tell you they're putting jobs overseas. They'll explain it later when you find out about it.

Truth is, GM continues to make their parts in China and as they need more, more jobs in China (not the US) will come. More assembly jobs might come here too depending if there is demand for GM cars here, but if there is no higher demand for GM cars here, the jobs will not be here, they will be elsewhere.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Do you realize what would happen to GM stock (i/e taxpayer owned GM stock) if they flat out said, "yup, we're building a new plant in China to keep up with manufacturing."

A company will never flat out tell you they're putting jobs overseas. They'll explain it later when you find out about it.

Truth is, GM continues to make their parts in China and as they need more, more jobs in China (not the US) will come. More assembly jobs might come here too depending if there is demand for GM cars here, but if there is no higher demand for GM cars here, the jobs will not be here, they will be elsewhere.

So you think the companies are lying and it's Romney telling the truth?

[JohnR! 5,495]

So you think the companies are lying and it's Romney telling the truth?

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I think I've finally reached my maximum level of "#######??" here on these boards during the election season.

Romney lies. The very companies he is lying about tells everyone "Hey, this guy is lying" ... and PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE/DEFEND HIM. Dude's got some magical bullsh*t powers.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I think I've finally reached my maximum level of "#######??" here on these boards during the election season.

Romney lies. The very companies he is lying about tells everyone "Hey, this guy is lying" ... and PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE/DEFEND HIM. Dude's got some magical bullsh*t powers.

on one hand you trust a corporation.... on the other hand you don't....

Sounds like a big debacle the American left is in here, now isn't it?

Do we trust the guy we hate, or do we trust the companies we hate?

[Karee 4,189]

I think I've finally reached my maximum level of "#######??" here on these boards during the election season.

Romney lies. The very companies he is lying about tells everyone "Hey, this guy is lying" ... and PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE/DEFEND HIM. Dude's got some magical bullsh*t powers.

6 more days. Then we can move into "the election was fixed" mode by the losing side.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

6 more days. Then we can move into "the election was fixed" mode by the losing side.

I will, in all honesty, just be glad it's over.

We got literally 7 phone calls last night between the hours of 6 and 9. All political surveys.

[Karee 4,189]

I will, in all honesty, just be glad it's over.

We got literally 7 phone calls last night between the hours of 6 and 9. All political surveys.

Glad I don't live in a toss-up state. That $hit would make me write in Santa Claus for president.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

on one hand you trust a corporation.... on the other hand you don't....

Sounds like a big debacle the American left is in here, now isn't it?

Do we trust the guy we hate, or do we trust the companies we hate?

I think the companies - both Chrysler and GM - have made their strategies clear before Mitt ever misrepresented them. Both companies will expand production in China because there is growth opportunity there. That does not mean that they are planning to move US production to China. Yet that is what Mitt is lying about. All Mitt does these days is lie. Shows how fcuking desperate he is.