On the brink: Toledo
Leaders say manufacturing remains the answer for city
Thursday, December 6, 2007 3:35 AM
Since 2001, $4.2 billion has been sunk into new auto facilities: $1.2 billion by Chrysler in the Toledo North Assembly Plant, which makes the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro; $2.1 billion by Chrysler in Toledo Supplier Park, where parts suppliers from Germany, Korea and Canada are connected to the plant that assembles more than 580 Jeep Wranglers a day; and $900 million by General Motors in its Toledo transmission plant to build new 6-speed models.
But in the age of global competition, especially in the auto industry, good news can be fleeting, as it was for Baumhower when he learned that the 750-employee third shift at the North Assembly Plant was being slashed because of weak demand for the Nitro.
"We've still got to build a product that people want," Baumhower said a day after Chrysler announced the layoffs. "That changes our world for awhile, but we'll get through it."
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The Columbus Dispatch : On the brink: Toledo
