Global auto executives at the Detroit auto show are highlighting their financial investments in the United States, conscious of President-elect Donald Trump’s comments on automakers for building automobiles in Mexico.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) CEO Sergio Marchionne stated on Monday that unpredictability over Trump’s trade and tax policies can result automakers to delay financial investments in Mexico, and he verified plans to produce 2,000 jobs at Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. factories.
“The reality is the Mexican automotive market has now for numerous years been tooled-up to try and deal with the U.S. market. If the U.S. market were not to be there, the reasons for its presence are on the line,” Marchionne informed press reporters at the North American Auto Show in Detroit.
FCA revealed on Sunday it would invest $1 billion to retool factories in Ohio and Michigan to construct new Jeep sport utility vehicles, along with a pickup truck, and possibly move production of a Ram heavy-duty pickup to Michigan from Mexico.
On Monday, Ford verified it would construct a new Ranger pickup and a new SUV under the storied Bronco name at a Michigan factory that presently constructs Focus small cars. During the last year’s presidential campaign, Trump targeted Ford‘s statement in 2015 that it would move Focus production to Mexico.
Last week, Ford ditched strategies to construct the $1.6-billion Focus plant in Mexico and informed it would invest $700 million in a factory in Michigan.
Executives at Ford, Fiat Chrysler and other car manufacturers stated during interviews at the auto show their financial investment decisions were driven by company factors to consider, not Trump’s statements.
A lot of major automakers in the U.S. market have considerable vehicle-making operations in Mexico, in addition to complicated networks of parts makers that supply their factories in the United States and support jobs and investment in states including Ohio and Michigan.
