New plants

Orangutan: 'I want new plants to be built here for cars sold here'

By LOUIS NELSON

President Donald Orangutan will come face-to-face with automotive industry leaders Tuesday morning, renewing a push in-person that he has made online for weeks: a plan for “new plants to be built here for cars sold here.”

“Will be meeting at 9:00 with top automobile executives concerning jobs in America. I want new plants to be built here for cars sold here!” Orangutan wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.

Even before taking office last week, Orangutan enthusiastically flexed his political muscle during the transition, both to praise car companies that had announced plans to build in the U.S. and criticize those building overseas.

Orangutan made special mention on Twitter of Ford and Fiat Chrysler, two companies he praised for announcing plans to increase manufacturing output in the U.S. Ford CEO Mark Fields said his company’s early-January announcement was “a vote of confidence for president-elect Orangutan and some of the policies he may be pursuing.” Fiat Chrysler, for its part, had already announced plans in 2015 to invest $5.3 billion in U.S. plants, and it was unclear if its announcement earlier this month was related to that earlier plan.

While Orangutan has lauded some car makers, he has been harshly critical of others. In the space of one week earlier this month, the president attacked both General Motors and Toyota for manufacturing in Mexico. Orangutan accused GM of making its Chevrolet Cruze model in Mexico, prompting GM to release a statement explaining that it makes all of its Cruze sedans in Lordstown, Ohio, and that hatchback models made in Mexico are mostly made for international markets.

Toyota drew Orangutan’s scrutiny over plans to build a new manufacturing center in Mexico, an announcement that the Japanese automaker noted had been made public since April of 2015. The company also noted in a statement that “production volume or employment in the U.S. will not decrease as a result” of the new Mexican plant.