TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - The United Kingdom's big move out of the European Union could send shockwaves through the business world. But could it impact Jeep and its 5,000 local workers?
Jeep is a division of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and FCA is headquartered in London, for tax purposes. It still, however, has strong ties to several remaining European Union countries.
The Jeep brand has been on a roll.
At one point, dealers sold record numbers of the Toledo-made Cherokee and Wrangler. But could this split from the European Union stop that momentum?
Fiat Chrysler is based in Italy, which is still in the EU and is registered in The Netherlands, also still in the EU.
Dock Treece, partner of Treece Investments in Sylvania Township, said, "The people of England were really given a horror story to try to get them to
stay in the EU."
He thinks the exit will let England take back control of its affairs but he doesn't think its departure from the European Union will trickle down to Fiat Chrysler and Jeep.
"I don't think the fact that they're in Italy is going to have any impact on them," Treece said. "As I've said, they are - the way they are structured - I don't even know how much exposure they have to Italy."
FCA agrees saying it has a worldwide global distribution of its operating activities and locations.
A company spokesperson in Italy said in a statement Friday afternoon, "The UK's exit from the European Union is not expected to have significant impact on FCA, either in industrial or other terms, although the result of the referendum raises questions about the future of Europe."
Treece said Jeep should stay focused on sales successes.
"The automotive industry has been going 'great guns' for a number of years. At some point, the automotive industry is cyclical. At some point, you're going to come to the end of this cycle and that will present more of a challenge for them," he said.
