President-elect Donald Trump sang praises to Ford and Fiat Chrysler after the car makers announced their decisions to invest billions of dollars in the U.S. While the president-elect seems to be taking all the credit for the car makers' decisions, Ford and Fiat Chrysler attributed it to business reasons.
Car makers that are thinking of investing in other countries other than the U.S. are getting some flak from Trump. The president-elect had been repeatedly calling out car makers for their decisions to open plants outside of the U.S.
Car makers are not taking Trump's accusations lightly. They denied Trump's assertion that their plans to build plants outside of the U.S. are negatively impacting employment, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Ford was initially planning to spend $1.6 billion for a new plant in Mexico. However, after Toyota's stock tanked following Trump's criticism of its decision to build its Corolla from Canada to Mexico, Ford and Fiat Chrysler changed their tunes, Reuters reported.
Now, Ford said it would put in $700 million worth of investments in a Michigan plant instead of creating a new plant in Mexico. Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler said it will set aside $1 billion for plants in Ohio and Michigan.
It's finally happening - Fiat Chrysler just announced plans to invest $1BILLION in Michigan and Ohio plants, adding 2000 jobs. This after...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne denied that Trump's tweet influenced the company's decision. He said the plan has been in the works for a long time, and it just happens that it was released after the issue between Toyota and Trump.
Aside from car makers, Trump has also been issuing warnings to big traders and U.S. manufacturers regarding their plans to invest outside of the U.S., Jobs & Hire previously reported.
