Carney: Del. must make Newark auto plant more cost effective
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Delaware has to figure out ways to make it more cost effective for DaimlerChrysler AG to keep its Newark plant operating, Lt. Gov. John Carney Jr., said at a breakfast meeting today near Christiana.
Carney, who was addressing the New Castle County Chamber at the Hilton, said there are a number of costs associated with running the Newark plant which make it less competitive than plants in other parts of the country. Among the key issues the company has told the state it needs to look into are worker’s compensation reform, the gross receipts tax and asbestos litigation.
Chrysler, the financially-strapped American arm of the German automaker, is under increasing pressure to review of all its operations in this country and rein in its costs by as much as $1,000 per vehicle. Analysts have said plants with sagging sales such as the one in Newark, which makes the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen, may be on the chopping block. That leaves the future of the 1,900 workers at the plant and the businesses that depend on it in a vulnerable state.
“The prospect of it closing is a big deal — there is no question about that,” said Carney, who is running for governor in 2008. “We are all doing what we can to keep it open.”
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