Plastech is working on bankruptcy financing to keep the company afloat through the summer. However, instead of going to traditional lenders, they're going hat-in-hand to their customers for an $80m line of credit. The Detroit Free Press reports Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI), GM, FoMoCo and Chrysler are expected to share the pain to ensure a steady flow of plastic parts to their assembly plants through the summer. Experts say the loans are a smart move, as the cost of the loan would be less than the cost of stopping an assembly line due to a parts shortage. At the same time, some of Plastech's other lenders are talking with JCI about the possibility of them buying Plastech's interior component operations. Plastech is preparing its customers for the possibility they could go out of business by building a bank of parts. Watch this space as the continuing soap opera unfolds.

GM must have a lot more cash laying around than they're letting on. The Wall Street Journal [sub]  reports The General is thinking seriously about taking on more of Delphi's pension liabilities on top of the $1.5b they've already agreed to assume. In an SEC filing last month, Delphi stated their pension fund is short about $3.8b; how much of that extra $2.3b GM is thinking about taking on is anyone's guess. However, experts say getting the pension money from their sugar daddy will grease the skids for six major investors who had planned to pump $2.55 into the company. The investors are threatening to take their money and run if Delphi can't get everything straightened out by Friday, so expect GM to act quickly. Then all Delphi has to do is come up with $6.1b in debt financing to exit Chapter 11. Piece o' cake!

Everyone has their dream car and usually it's not very practical to use as a daily driver. Mine is an Audi RS4 Cabriolet. However, since my left leg would probably fall off from driving it in Atlanta's bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go rush-hour traffic, I'd also need an A4 Cab with an automatic for everyday use. However, if someone told me I was limited to having only one car that would be my only way of getting around and schlepping things for the next 10 years, I'd probably pick something a bit more versatile… like, say, an A4 Avant so I could have a bit more cargo capacity. (What can I say… I like A4s!) So what about you? If you were stuck with one vehicle as your only transportation for the next ten years, what would it be and why?

One hundred forty laid-off American Axle workers returned to work Tuesday in response to a letter sent to them by the company telling them if they didn't, they'd lose benefits. Workforce Management reports the workers did as ordered– and immediately went on strike, joining the UAW picket line outside the plant. Union members from other factories also joined the strikers in protest of AA's weekend ad looking for replacement workers. American Axle mouthpiece Renee Rogers wouldn't say how many workers they were hoping to recruit to replace "associates who will take buyout and attrition programs." She also didn't comment on the ad's statement the applicants could be used "in place of employees involved in this strike" but she did say the negotiations were "moving ahead slowly." The UAW had no comment.

American Axle has blinked. After adamantly refusing to turn financial info over to the UAW as part of the negotiating process, AA finally acquiesced and provided the documents to the union. The Detroit News quotes UAW VP James Settles saying they need the information to "to make important decisions regarding proposals which will affect pensions, health care (and) profit-sharing" (i.e., "we want to see how badly they were bullshitting us when they demanded pay and benefit cuts"). He also said they were looking at the information to make sure the company gave them everything they'd requested, so this still may not be enough to precipitate a return to the bargaining table any time soon. In the meantime, GM's VP of vehicle sales, Mark LaNeve isn't worried: "We have more than adequate inventory to meet market demand. This is where we intended to be." With over a quarter million pickups still in stock, you have to wonder where they'd be if the strike hadn't closed the factories.

The Ford Flex is a large, seven-passenger crossover "people mover" that's basically replacing the minivan in Ford's vehicle lineup. So who will Ford target with the marketing? Everyone but families, according to Automotive News [sub]. It seems that Ford's new marketing chief, Jim Farley, doesn't want the Flex seen as a mom-mobile minivan replacement (wait a minute… isn't that what most seven-passenger SUVs and CUVs are?), so they're exorcising kids and dogs from the ads. Rather than "limit(ing) the Flex's potential by painting it so visibly with the family brush," they want to pitch it as "a trendsetting vehicle for people wanting a stylish ride." They think the xB-with-a-thyroid-problem styling will appeal to consumers not needing a kid-schlepper because as brand manager Kate Pearce explained "you can't not want to be noticed when you drive down the road in a two-tone vehicle with really cool grooves down the side." 

GM may have hit their breaking point in the UAW-American Axle strike. Automotive News [sub] reports The General is moving "a small but important parts contract" from American Axle (AA) to Dana Holding Corp. The contract is for 30k prop shafts for light trucks which Dana says they can start supplying "in a matter of weeks." Given the volume of parts GM needs to keep their factories running, a contract for 30k items doesn't sound like a lot and in the grand scheme of things, it isn't. But it does represent a warning shot across AA's bow, letting them know their biggest customer isn't happy and they aren't the only parts supplier in town. Now that AA stands to lose contracts because of the strike, you can bet CEO Dick Dauch will take action, most likely shifting more production to Mexican plants.

An interesting "help wanted" ad appeared in several cities' papers yesterday: "Employment offered to applicants responding to this advertisement will be to fill anticipated attrition replacement openings after negotiations or in place of employees involved in this strike." [Emphasis added.] You guessed it– the ads were placed by American Axle. CBC News reports the company ran the ad in cities where they have a plants which have been shut down by the UAW strike. Of course, the official AA party line, as espoused by spokeswoman Renee Rogers is: "We expect that once an agreement is reached with the UAW a significant number of associates will participate in buyouts and early retirements. We are currently preparing a pool of potential new associates." The auto supplier also sent letters to workers who were laid off before the strike began, asking them to come back to work. The UAW responded by calling for a mass picket today outside AA's headquarters. There's no apparent break in the impasse between labor and management; their full negotiating teams haven't met since March 10.

Move over, Christine– you're so last century.  Stephen King's furious Fury is being replaced by a hybrid. Variety reports Voltage Pictures is beginning production of "Hybrid," a horror flick "about a female mechanic in a Chicago police garage who spends a night of terror with a hybrid car." (No, I'm not making that up.) They don't give much more information about the movie except it's budgeted at $10m and is shooting around Regina, Saskatchewan. Nor do they say which hybrid is the objet terrible or how it goes about its evil business. Anyone want to make any suggestions on how a predatory Prius or internecine Insight would go about terrorizing its hapless (and oh so very cliché) female victim?

The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against American Axle (AA) will claim its second automobile plant next week. In addition to the Cobalt/G5 plant, Automotive News [sub] says the strike threatens GM's Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant (Buick Lucerns, Cadillac DTS). Buick probably won't mind the shutdown; they're in the same boat as Chevy and GMC with a 100-day supply. Cadillac isn't in quite as good shape, with a 59-day supply of DTS'. Automotive analyst Erich Merkle doesn't think losing a second car plant will be enough to get GM involved in the strike settlement. "It's a little bit of an 'ouch,' but it's certainly something that's survivable. GM could still probably afford to stand on the sidelines a little while longer." While the strike is a relatively inexpensive (and entirely blameless) way for GM to reduce bloated inventories, keep in mind that the American automaker counts a "sale" when a vehicle leaves the factory. When the new quarter starts (April 1), the strike will whack The General's bottom line. That means interceding in the strike, encouraging AA to ramp up offshore production or facing Armageddon. If (and most probably) when production restarts and GM begins channel stuffing replacing inventory, you can bet they'll crow about record production and sales for that quarter. 

Dick Dauch plays for keeps. The Detroit Free Press reports that the American Axle CEO has no qualms about taking his business elsewhere. Dauch, who founded the company, said he had no intention of turning it into an offshore company. HOWEVER "we have the flexibility to source all of our business to other locations around the world, and we have the right to do so." When the Freep asked the UAW for their thoughts on Dauch's threat, they declined to respond. But a couple of weeks ago on a radio talk show,  UAW president Ron Gettelfinger insisted as long as AA maintain "the attitude that they're not going to negotiate– that they're going to dictate– we're not going to get an agreement."  Meanwhile, the strike is beginning to affect those GM plants they can't afford to close. The pressure is on for AA to get back to work, one way or the other. So who will blink first? Given that Dauch has already moved some production to a plant in Mexico and has the means to increase production in other countries, and the UAW gave in to the Big 2.8 so easily, the smart money's on the union backing down. And GM forking-out.

Rumors are flying that Chrysler is in talks with a second Chinese manufacturer. They already have an agreement with Chery to rebadge subcompacts for Mexico and South American markets markets and develop a subcompact for the U.S. (all under the Dodge brand). Now Reuters says they're looking into an alliance with Great Wall. Great Wall builds small SUVs, a small CUV and pickup trucks with some of the coolest model names going: the Wingle (say "Great Wall Wingle" fast three times) and the Socool. Obviously, Chrysler doesn't need more SUVs or CUVs. However, Chrysler hasn't had a small pickup since the rebadged Mitsubishi pickup they sold in the previous century. With sales of the Dakota "midsized" pickup in the cesspool, and big truck sales circling the toilet, they could be looking at Great Wall to provide a small truck– a vehicle Chery can't supply. So if the rumors turn out to be true (and inside sources say they are), the next small Dodge truck could come from the People's Republic of China. And pave the way for… the end of domestic car production.

Chrysler cars are the industry's style leaders, at least according to Kelly Blue Book. In a press release dated yesterday, Chrysler proudly proclaims they won "Best Exterior Design – Non-Luxury Sedan/Coupe/Hatchback," one category of the 17 different KBB Brand Image Awards handed out at the New York Auto Show. The awards "recognize automakers' outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that capture the attention and enthusiasm of the new-vehicle buying public." The press release didn't say which specific model led to the award, but the Aspen and Town & Country are eliminated by the category. The PT Cruiser has been around since Bob Lutz was a Boy Scout and the 300's long over-due for a re-do. That leaves the Sebring as the style leader that  "captured the attention and enthusiasm of the new-vehicle buying public." If the Sebring displays the essence of Chrysler's "brand attributes," that explains everything you need to know about why the company's on life support. Just sayin'. 

It's been almost a month since the United Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike against American Axle (AA).  The news that American Axle CEO Dick Dauch's pay package totaled over $7 million last year (not including estimated value of stock option grants or projected pension values) won't help management's negotiating position one whit. The Detroit Free Press reports that Dauch's '07 compensation included $5.6m in stock awards (more than double what he received in 2006) plus a $1.47m base salary, up 9.6 percent from 2006. "How can you expect us to keep giving when they just keep getting more?" an unnamed striking worker asked. "It's just throwing another log on the fire for us to say we'll stay out here, we're going to fight." Yes, well, keep in mind that Dauch's $7m package represents a 9.2 percent cut from his '06 compensation (which included a $3.9m cash bonus). Unless you figure in what he might get from stock options, assuming the UAW workers settle or AA goes south of the border. 

As Maurice Chevalier so adroitly pointed out, "old age is not so bad when you consider the alternatives." However, as the bolus of baby boomers continues to boogie toward the end of the demographic charts, there are more drivers over the age of 50 on the roads than ever before. That creates problems; many senior drivers weren't that hot behind the wheel even before they became members of the bifocal brigade. With that in mind the AAA has partnered with the University of Florida's National Older Driver Research and Training Center to create the "Smart Features for Mature Drivers" web site. The site contains advice for chronologically enhanced drivers like "don't allow other drivers to pressure you into sudden moves" and "keep the radio volume low to minimize distraction." (No, they don't say "turn off your left-hand turn signal.") They even suggest what to look for when buying a new car, including large knobs, four doors, keyless ignition and proven crashworthiness. I know the AAA means well, but those of us who refuse to be seen in a Buick or Avalon agree with Mark Twain: "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." So excuse me for a while; there's an RS4 out there somewhere calling my name.