According to the Detroit Free Press, back in '96, GM workers moving to Saturn's Spring Hill, Tennessee factory agreed to give up their seniority. As part of the Delphi settlement, GM agreed to let 300 workers at a plant in nearby Athens, Alabama transfer to the Spring Hill factory as jobs became available. BUT, since Spring Hill is no longer a Saturn-only factory, the old transfer rules are out the window. Any UAW member who heads over to the Volunteer State keeps their GM seniority, while workers who gave up as much as 20 years seniority to work for Saturn find themselves at the bottom of the pecking order– even though they may have more than 30 years with GM. At least this time the workers aren't blaming management for the problem: "The union needs to fix this. The local allowed it … and I feel like International turned their back to me." None of this in-fighting can be good for morale or product quality.

With all the press lithium-ion batteries and high tech drivetrains have gotten lately, you'd think electric cars are the future of the automobile. Perhaps, but they're also the past. Almost 100 years ago, electric cars were actually a common sight in American cities. New York Times brings us a blast from the past with a feature on Jay Leno's 1909 Baker Electric Coupe. Arguably the first "chick car," the Baker was the favorite of high-society women who couldn't be bothered with the muss and fuss of primitive internal-combustion engines. Although Jay's car's top speed is only about 20 to 25 mph, the Baker Torpedo held the world land speed record in 1904 at 104mph, with the additional distinction of being the first automobile fitted with seat belts. 

The People's Weekly World is "partisan to the working class, racially and nationally oppressed peoples, women, youth, seniors, international solidarity, Marxism and socialism" and "enjoys a special relationship with the Communist Party USA, founded in 1919, and publish its news and views." Right, so, the paper says "many thousands" of UAW workers don't believe the numbers being touted by the automakers to justify labor concessions. Citing GM's plan to invest $6m into Daewoo and Ford spending over a billion dollars on a plant in Eastern Europe, they're certain the companies are much better off financially than they let on. They're particularly suspicious of GM, claiming "during contract negotiations it is likely it will hide more than half its profits." Admitting they don't know what's going on in the negotiations, they feel "the union can be expected to raise both the issue of concealed corporate profits and the issue of nonlabor costs of making vehicles." So now you know.

Carbon fiber is so last century. In a press release on Send2Press, CNT Technologies announced their carbon nanotube technology (CNT) has been named "one of the most innovative products of 2007" by the editors of R&D Magazine and MICRO/NANO Newsletter. They claim CNT fiber is one-tenth the weight of plebeian carbon fiber and 500% stronger than any other engineering material. CEO Robert Leary thinks his product will revolutionize manufacture of everything from automobiles to tennis rackets. "It is analogous to leaping in one bound from the Bronze Age to the age of high-strength steel and aluminum. Companies that do not have access to our product will simply be unable to compete and maintain market share." Um… Ok.

Amidst the controversy concerning the safety of various Chinese-made products, Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber (HZR) Co. is recalling their LTR tires. In a statement on PRNewswire, HZR states they have "fully cooperated with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to provide information on the scope of the recall and the design history of the products involved." Of course "HZR has not found any evidence that the LTR tires at issue contain any structural defects or are missing any safety features." They are instructing consumers to return the tires to their dealer to have them checked.

In a magnanimous gesture, Canadian-based Magna International has offered to help Cerberus expand Chrysler's international operations. Magna, once the front runner to buy Chrysler, is expanding into Russia and wants to take Chrysler with them. Magna's president Mark Hogan told Reuters, "Chrysler has done a good job of establishing a distribution network in western Europe and to a lesser extent in eastern Europe. We can probably help them as we establish ourselves in Russia." Chrysler is moving production of their Euro-spec 300's from Magna's Graz, Austria facility to their own in Ontario, so Magna needs to keep their ties with the company somehow. You know– just in case Cerberus decides to sell something.

Now that Subaru has been "liberated" from GM's influence and hooked-up with the new world number one (hint: Moving Forward), the all-Japanese automotive partnership is finalizing plans to co-develop a… wait for it… sports car. Reuters reports the BFFs are shooting for a price under $16,000, an engine smaller than two liters and (possibly) Subaru's all-wheel-drive powertrain. The car is due to hit the tarmac as a 2010 model, sold as a Toyota. The mating of Toyota bland with Subaru quirkiness should produce an interesting automotive offspring, to say the least. No word on whether they'll sell the car in North America; or whether the phrase "sold as a Toyota" includes the new sports car's logical U.S. home: Scion.

When Daimler gave sold Chrysler to Cerberus, it seemed as if things were looking up for the beleaguered automaker. With a return to American ownership, they no longer had internal factions gunning for each other. Cerberus spoke highly about Chrysler's leadership; they would take a "hands off" approach to running their automotive acquisition. They offered union leaders assurance: we're in it for the long run. No need to worry about "strip and flip." And then Cerberus announced that Robert Nardelli would take over the reins. Ladies and gentlemen, the three-headed dog is finally baring its teeth.

Toyota is delaying introducing lithium-ion battery-powered hybrids because of safety concerns. Forbes reports that the Japanese automaker is hanging fire (so to speak) due to worries that the cells might overheat or explode. Toyota doesn't expect to have hybrids with Li-Ion batteries until 2011. They've also delayed plans for Tundra and Sequoia hybrids. Whether or not this will affect GM's hopes of lithium-ion powered Volt is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, commenting on an earlier TTAC post, Tesla spinmeister Darryl Siry claims their Roadster's Li-ion battery pack passed UN and DOT protocols for safety "when shipping" which which "can actually be harsher than safety when in a car."

Those zany marketing guys! Apparently euphemisms like "gently used" and "pre-loved" aren't enough to make us want to rush out and buy a used car. WebProNews brings us Chrysler's marketing mavens' latest attempt to obfuscate: "brand spankin' used." You can expect to see that phrase plastered all over used vehicle web sites like Cars.com and AutoTrader.com soon. Chrysler plans to list every certified pre-owned vehicle in every U.S. Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep dealer's inventory. That equates to over 20K vehicles listed each day. Why so many? Because Chrysler has a glut of used cars to unload since they dumped transferred all of their unsold 2006 models into their used car inventory in June. Banning over 600 dealers from Chrysler's used car auctions probably didn't help move the metal either.

In an effort to show they're just as digital media savvy as GM, Chrysler V4.0 has rolled out their own corporate blog. So far, Voices of Chrysler contains the expected PR drivel frank and open pseudo exchange of views expressing hope for the future, promising new product excellence, yada X 3. It's too early to tell if any of the suits will start issuing the kind of Maximum Bob Lutzian statements that float our e-boat. Three Chrysler execs have posted so far: Tom "I'm in charge" Lasorda, Ralph "the 300 was not a fluke" Gilles and Jason "You Talking to me?" Vines. Not suprisingly, Vines comes closest to providing genuine infortainment. Ever the optimist, he states "Our owners at Cerberus think [new CEO Bob Nardelli's] incredible track record in successfully running the many businesses he did… can speed up the recovery of The New Chrysler. More power to him, if you ask me." More power to you, Jason. Given Boot'em Bob's track record at Home Depot, drop us a line as and when.

Mike Delahanty, senior manager of Dodge Motorsports, has assured NASCAR fans that the manufacturer won't pull their sponsorship from the ten race cars wearing Dodge Charger/Avenger decals. Delahanty seems confident that Cerberus will continue supporting the program, citing two NASCAR contracts that "went through the Cerberus review unscathed — no questions." He feels "we had a long-term commitment to the sport that was approved and a long-term commitment to one of our key teams that was approved. That gave us a message very early that going forward we weren't going to have to worry how to run our business." However, these statements were made before Monday's announcement stabbing Tom Lasorda in the back naming Robert Nardelli as CEO. Now that Toyota's in NASCAR, Delahanty and the two Dodge racing teams may want to give Hyundai or Honda a ring.

Let's see.. a gauge to tell you how fast you're going, a gauge to show you how much fuel you have left and a gauge to monitor how much damage you're doing to the environment. According to Gizmag, a team from The University of Manchester has developed a laser device that measures greenhouse gas emissions inside the car's exhaust system before it's loosed on the world. The eggheads' hope: if you see how much nasty stuff you're producing you'll adjust your driving style accordingly. Of course, if you don't, "this technology could also be used in roadside congestion charging systems, with less polluting vehicles being charged less." Yes, The University of Manchester is in England.

MSNBC reports the results of a Harris poll commissioned by mobile messaging service Pinger. The survey says… 91 percent of Americans want texting while driving banned. In the true spirit of "do as I say, not as I do," the poll also reveals that 57 percent of those sampled admit to sending text messages while driving. Washington State has already banned texting while driving, and six other states are considering similar legislation. Pinger has particular interest in getting the laws passed– they provide a voice messaging service. Their press release claims they offer "a safer way for drivers to stay in touch from the road" when "combined with a hands-free headset." However, that only helps the 57 percent who send messages. Incoming message notifications arrive in the form of a text message, so the 66 percent who admit that they read text messages while driving are still at risk. Doh!

Say you're the average Ferrari F430 owner. Whether inspired by your conscience or an environmentally conscious mistress, you feel a sudden need to show your support for planet-saving consumerism. What do you do? Follow the advice of MSN Cars Green Motoring and trade that Italian eco-disaster for a Porsche 911. Citing its fuel economy and relatively low CO2 emissions, they compare the Porker to a number of exotics and declare it good. And if the base 911 isn't fast enough, they point out that the 911 Turbo pollutes less than your average F430, R8 or Gallardo and gets better mileage than any of them. Who needs a Prius when you can save the planet in a Porsche?