Jeep Seats Production To Move To India : New Jeep new car review 2008

Jeep Seats Production To Move To India
by Anthony Fontanelle
The Jeep Wrangler and other off-road vehicles from the automaker may have etched a historic mark for the United States by helping win previous wars. But soon, the vehicles may no longer have an all-American bequest. The production of its seats will be transferred to India.Chrysler LLC announced that the production of Jeep seats will be moved to India. The Auburn Hills automaker, parent company of the Jeep brand, added the outsourcing will start 2010.Officials at auto parts supplier Johnson Controls Inc.'s facility in Northwood earlier informed union officials there that the seats workers make there for the Wrangler are being outsourced to India beginning in 2010. As a direct consequence, the said factory of the automaker will lose work in 2010.At present, it is still not clear how many plant workers will lose their job due to the latest plan. Aside from seats, the plant also manufactures other Jeep parts. Additionally, the Northwood plant also makes instrument panels for the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro. Both vehicles are assembled at the Toledo Jeep Assembly facility.United Auto Workers Local 12 President Bruce Baumhower said he called Chrysler LLC officials about the lost work. "We just lost the third shift there [at Johnson Controls]. We lost 60 guys when the third shift went away [at Toledo Jeep Assembly]," Baumhower said. "We're very concerned about that. That's a great plant out there. It's a very competitive plant, and it's hard to believe that they could ship seats from India and manufacture them cheaper than we could."Baumhower noted the move could eventually mean the slashing of approximately 75 jobs at the plant if it is unable to find other customers or products it could manufacture.Robert Nardelli, Chrysler Chairman, has made a point of saying that the Auburn Hills automaker would move aggressively to acquire parts from "low cost" companies."It should come as no surprise that emerging markets play an increasing role for Chrysler as well as for our suppliers. Partially driven by our growth strategies in key markets, such as Asia and Europe, Chrysler will work with suppliers in those local markets, as well as in its own backyard to support this growth," said Chrysler spokesman Kevin Frazier in an email. He further intimated he could not comment on "certain aspects of its supplier relationships."According to the Toledo Blade, the identity of the new supplier was not disclosed but was reported to be based in New Dehli. Last Sunday, the details of the original $101 million pact were reported in an Indian business publication. The news authority said a spokesman for Johnson Controls could not be reached for comment.

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