993c4s.com reports that the 250,000th Porsche Cayenne is a three-liter, six-cylinder diesel. Zuffenhausen pride!
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The Detroit News reports that the UAW vote on Ford’s proposed modifications (full summary in PDF) to the union contract is “tight,” as locals wrap up balloting by Monday. Eight union locals have approved the modifications while four have rejected them, but margins of victory were in the “low 60-percent level to the mid-50-percent range.” Modifications must be approved by a simple majority of Ford’s UAW workers, meaning “no” votes in locals that passed the measure still count and vice versa. And though the Freep has uncovered a letter from Ford to the UAW detailing the carnage that has already been wrought upon Ford’s hapless contract employees (possibly the great unsung victims in this mess), and suggesting that perhaps contract modifications aren’t the end of the world, the video above proves that the old UAW zero-sum perspective is alive and well.
The president who did more to expand the federal government than any other in modern history began his first term assuring Americans that the only thing they had to fear was fear itself. Flash forward seventy-six years and FDR’s spiritual successor wants his fellow countrymen to live in fear—so his administration can achieve the same Big Government goal. Lets call it the Fram filter doctrine. Remember the old Fram filter ad? “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” There’s your philosophical justification for the Detroit bailout. We have to bail out Motown (and everyone else) NOW or the whole economy will go to hell and we’ll WISH we’d made the “investment.” Rubbish.
Protmind writes:
I’ve got a question for the best and the brightest-child car seats in two seater cars. I drive a ’06 S2000 and I’m expecting my first child. I’ve read my owner’s manual which foretells doom and gloom for children who ride along. However having ridden in my father’s 190SL extensively (sometime with only meager lap belts holding me), some of these hyper safety warnings ring a little false. If I take the necessary steps to make sure an airbag will not deploy when a child is with me, is the front seat just as safe as the back seat? Or is there another reason children should be in the back seat only? If you post this, in the interests of protecting my mortified wife, please only use my screen nic.
Automotive News [AN, sub] is reporting that Der Spiegel is reporting that German automakers BMW and Daimler are planning on exchanging seven percent of each other’s shares. Daimler’s motivations seem clear enough; it’s been looking for a way to end its status as takeover bait for over a decade. (If you remember, the possibility of a hostile takeover had a little something to do with the ill-fated formation of DaimlerChrysler.) BMW’s motivation: cost-savings though component sharing with their [former?] Stuttgart rival. Yes, well… so much for BMW’s publicly-touted status as the last major independent automaker. Der Spiegel says the automaker’s majority owners– the publicity shy Quandt family– are not happy with the Daimler stock swap. I guess 46 percent ownership doesn’t buy what it used to.
According to the silver-lining seeking scribes at The Detroit News, the Presidential Task Force on Automobile is taking the long-term view on the Motown meltdown. Hang on. Didn’t DetN scribes Gordon Trowbridge and Christine Tierney read Daniel Howes latest column? You know, the one where Mr. Howes called bankruptcy deniers “deluded.” And yet, less than twenty-four hours later, the word “bankruptcy” appears in the DetN’s Task Force article exactly none times. Instead, there’s a hopeful assumption that the Obama admin wants YOU to support Chrysler (maybe), GM (definitely) and Ford (maybe) for as long as it takes to . . . well, we’ll get to that in a minute.
The federal auto task force that arrives in Detroit on Monday has spent the past two weeks meeting with a range of industry players, pushing its work beyond the automakers’ immediate cash crisis and strongly hinting at a longer term goal… the group’s focus appears to extend far beyond the balance sheet, looking more deeply into the question of what a successful U.S. auto industry would look like in the long run.
Yeah, that’s what I want: a gaggle of professional politicians deciding what the American auto industry should look like under a new five-year plan. So, how much is this boondoggle going to cost me? As the DetN points out, it’s not all about money (even though it is). DC’s going to make sure there’s plenty of green in that mean, mean, mean; mean green.
Newbie TTAC registrant USLuxuryman entered this comment under the post Ford-UAW Deal Rejected By Two Locals. I’m republishing it here because I think it’s important for all of us to understand the fears, frustrations and general motivations of the workers at the sharp end. Now, if he could just walk away from that endless quiver of spears . . . . [NB: USLuxuryman is protected by TTAC’s no-flaming rule. Obviously.]
As an Auto Worker, instead of some hateful, biased, resentful outsider, let me help give you some perspective!
I work for Chrysler, but the ENTIRE AUTO INDUSTRY is in free-fall, and for a VARIETY of reasons! Those two Locals, or any others, have the RIGHT to say YES OR NO, just like you could vote for McCain or Obama! You have no say in that any more than I DO if you let your Police,Fire, and Teachers lose their jobs because you don’t wanna pay more in taxes!
if a Ballplayer turns down $45 Million, I can’t call him a fool, he is obviously in a different economic-bracket than you or me! These factors affecting our Economy were not caused by or controlled by the average Blue-Collar OR White-Collar worker in this or related industries!
The Big-Three didn’t MAKE you buy SUV’s and Pickups! AMERICA wanted these vehicles until the 4/Gal gas slaughter helped to KILL the economy! We DON’T make the decisions that put us in this shape, or put the Credit-markets, Housing-markets, or the economy overall in the shape that it is in today! We take direction from Management, just like most of you do on your jobs.
A deeply divided Ohio House of Representatives on Thursday passed sweeping legislation that would impose new penalties on motorists, including a statewide speed camera program. State Representative Peter S. Ujvagi (D-Toledo) inserted the controversial proposals into a “must pass” $7.6B transportation funding measure to avoid individual discussion of the merits of the many programs rolled into the 361-page bill. Only one Republican voted in favor of Ujvagi’s plan, which passed by a margin of 53-45.
The Freep reports that Ford’s deal with the UAW, which could have signaled a way forward for all the Detroit automakers, has been rejected by two locals. Local 892 of Saline, Michigan, rejected modifications to the union contract with 76 percent opposing. Local 1219 of Lima, Ohio, also rejected the changes by a mere 14 votes. Two Michigan locals are known to have approved the changes, 900 of Wayne and 228 of Sterling Axle Plant.
GM’s Steve Harris is dancing all over the bankruptcy issue at GM’s Fastlane blog. Yesterday Haris was sounding resigned if still-delusional. “So, by now you’ve seen the news reports,” he wrote. “You know that auditors have said that there is substantial doubt about GM’s ability to survive as a ‘going concern’ through the end of the year. It’s certainly led to some scary headlines – some more accurate than others, of course.” But all scary. Yeah, believe it or not, we kind of saw it coming.
The General’s Chevrolet Malibu LS won this competition versus the Chrysler Sebring LX and Ford Fusion S because it’s a complete car with no manifest weaknesses. For less than $18K, I could have driven away from the Chevy dealership in the only vehicle capable of going head to head with the very best entry level cars in its class. In a prior competition, I compared the Honda Accord LX, Toyota Camry (base model), Nissan Altima 2.5 and Mazda Mazda6i Sport. Neither the dismally shameful Sebring nor the uninspired Fusion compares well to even the weakest of these Japanese models. On the other hand, this Malibu fully deserves serious consideration by cost conscious consumers.
Everyone’s favorite feel-good broadsheet, SubPrime Auto Finance News, reports that 13 members of congress have written a letter to Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, and Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, requesting another raid on TALF, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility. The congressional bagmen “applaud the joint efforts of the Federal Reserve Board and the Department of Treasury to promote liquidity in consumer loan markets through the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility.” Because making $200B available was an interesting start. “However,” continue the servants of the public trust, “we are concerned that the program may not sufficiently address the problems facing the domestic automobile industry.” Oh dear.
The question that has haunted the very soul humanity for eons—“that thing gotta hemi?”—should hopefully drift out of the vernacular, as ChryCo is offering free Hemi V8 upgrades on every Ram 1500 they sell during “shovel ’em out the door,” uh, make that “truck month.” So yes, good sir, it’s got a Hemi. But as Wikipedia puts it, “today, ‘hemi’ is little more than a trademark that bears little meaning, descriptively, for the engines designated as such.”
The BBC reports that GM’s European division Opel has learned a valuable lesson from the German government. Insolvency law was “not set up for the destruction but for the preservation of economic assets,” German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said after meeting with Opel leaders. “The public perception is that insolvency is associated with going bust or bankruptcy, but that is wrong. We must grasp that to survive such a crisis, modern insolvency rules are a better solution than the state taking a stake.” Hint, freaking, hint. And just why is the German government so jazzed about seeing Opel restructure on its own? Accoding to the Beeb, “media reports suggest that the German government was angry that the bail-out proposal—which asked for 3.3B euros ($4.16B)—was simply a glossy 217-page brochure which read like an advertisement, rather than presenting any viable business plan.” Sound familiar? Apparently German members of parliament were also shocked to learn that Opel doesn’t own its factories (GM does) or intellectual property. As in GM has hocked all of its Opel IP to the US government as security for its own bailout. Classy. Now, as the worm turns, even the Canadians are saying they don’t want to go through with the bailout if it’s a “waste of taxpayers’ money.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that the usual unnamed “top executives” are saying GM is warming to the idea of bankruptcy after all. “The change in thinking, combined with the disclosure Thursday that GM’s auditor has raised ‘substantial doubt’ about the car maker’s ability to keep going, appears to move GM closer to the possibility it will file for reorganization.” Something about staring at the hangman’s noose brings a new clarity of thought to the fore. The journal’s new owner seems to have brought a bit of dry British humor to the biz: “The increased threat of bankruptcy could prod bondholders into making concessions, since these investors are said to believe a bankruptcy reorganization could harm their holdings, according to a person familiar with their thinking.” Wow, those bond manipulating masters of the universe sure are smart!
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