WARREN, Mich. -- Warren Mayor Jim Fouts has a message he wants to get out and he’s chosen bumper stickers to convey it.

Fouts has designed free bumper stickers that read “Buy American Products. They're Better and Safer.”

Fouts said the idea stemmed from reading a newspaper article that reported Toyota having sold 4.8 million vehicles worldwide compared to General Motors Co.’s numbers of 4.45 between January and June of 2008.

“I decided that as mayor of Michigan’s third largest city that is dependent on the success of the domestic auto manufacturers, I had to do something to encourage Americans to buy American products,” Fouts wrote in a news release about the stickers.

Fouts said he is going to insist that all of the mayoral appointees buy American-made cars and encouraged all of the city unions to offer incentives to their members if they purchase American cars.

“The bottom line is that as the domestic automobile industry goes, so goes Warren and Michigan,” said Fouts.

Fouts said the “They are Made Safer” sentence on the sticker refers to products of all kinds that are made overseas and have turned up to be contaminated. He cited the recent recall of more than 45 million toys from China that were shipped to the U.S. with lead contamination.

Fouts said he would hope all Americans glance at the label of every product they purchase to be sure it’s American-made.

“Whenever I can, in my personal purchases or purchases by the city of Warren, I will buy American and encourage others to do the same,” said Fouts.