Alternate Route

Nov 2, 2009 - What A Difference A Bridge Makes

In just two days of voting, the Canadian Auto Workers pulled off what the UAW was unable to do in weeks -- convince its membership to vote for yet another set of contract changes with Ford Motor Co.

Not only did they agree to the changes in the contract that put them in line with the deals with GM and Chrysler, they did so by voting 83% in favor as opposed to roughly the same percentage in opposition at the UAW plants.

Will Ford start to migrate work to Canadian plants?

It's not that long a trip over the Peace Bridge to the competetive side of the falls.

Read the entire article at freep.com

4:12 am | Categories: automotive news, caw, uaw Comments (1) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Nov 1, 2009 - Rubbernecking

Going on an all day exursion to Pittsburgh today with a total of about 6 hours of driving, so I thought I'd get my rubbernecking out of the way before the trip by stopping at wreckedexotics.com this morning.

This photo is from the Weird Accidents section.

Now that's a pothole!

5:08 am | Categories: car photos Comments (0) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 31, 2009 - Ask Dub Schwartz!

Dear Dub,
Now that Cash for Clunkers has put a lot of perfectly good cars into salvage yards, I can finally follow through on an idea I've had for years. I'm going to build the perfect car by using the best parts from whatever source, and show Detroit how it should be done. What do you think?
Marty Shelly

Just be careful that you don't create a creature that eats your finances alive Marty!

Happy Halloween!

4:52 am | Categories: ask dub schwartz, humor Comments (1) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 30, 2009 - Let The Celebration Begin

Another historic UAW "victory" as workers at the Sterling Heights axle plant vote down the concessions Ford needs to stay competetive.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sterling Axle was supposed to get new rear-wheel drive work that would have added about 100 jobs. Now, union sources fear that work will be given to Getrag Corp., a German supplier with a nonunion factory in North Carolina. Local union leaders also were told Ford is considering outsourcing other components made at the plant, where 80 percent of workers voted against ratification.

"I don't think people here really understood that the work we had been promised was contingent on ratification," said Sterling Axle UAW member Brian Pannebecker, who voted in favor of the agreement and is now helping to organize a petition in support of revote.

Exactly what did you think was going to happen here guys? I'm hopeful in that there seem to be at least of few UAW members who realize that the choice is between "winning" and working.

Read the rest of the article at the Detroit News

3:05 am | Categories: automotive news, ford, uaw Comments (0) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 29, 2009 - Bark Or Bite?

China has told the U.S. that it will take steps that could lead to higher tariffs on imports of autos made by GM, Chrysler and Ford.

Steve Collins, president of industry trade group the American Automotive Policy Council, said Wednesday that U.S. officials have told the three Detroit automakers that China is expected to begin an investigation under anti-dumping laws into their business practices as soon as next week.

The U.S. auto companies export only about 9,000 cars to China annually, Collins said. GM manufactures and sells more than a million cars a year in China, though those sales wouldn't be affected. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Nissan also export cars to China from plants in the United States, but those won't be included in the investigation, Collins said.

As China has been one of the places where auto sales have been growing (a mere 84% increase in September) this kind of feels like the big dog flexing his muscles a bit.

Read the entire article at Yahoo Finance

2:23 am | Categories: automotive news Comments (0) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 28, 2009 - Dust Collectors

From freep.com

The trusted magazine Consumer Reports heaped praise Tuesday on Ford Motor Co., which continues to gain momentum in the face of the global recession.

"Ford is the only domestic automaker that's producing vehicles with world-class reliability," Rik Paul, Consumer Reports' automotive editor, said. He was in Detroit to announce the magazine's 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey.

Collectively, Detroit's vehicles ranked closely to European-made models. But Asian automakers were the top performers, with 94% of their models ranked average or better.

While 90% of Ford's models were ranked as above average or better, just 44% of GM's and 4% of those made by Chrysler were similarly ranked.

The magazine recommended 24 Ford and 8 GM models. Chrysler, which had no recommended vehicles last year, has just one, the Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, on the recommended list this year.

"They really need to do a major overhaul," Jake Fisher, senior automotive engineer for Consumer Reports, said of Chrysler.

World-class reliabilty could mean anything, but when you only score 44% or 4% on anything that's being handed out, especially when others in the class are getting 90%, it's going to be hard to twist that into an ad slogan.

3:10 am | Categories: automotive news Comments (0) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 27, 2009 - Glory Daze

Daniel Howes' column in the Detroit News nails it in his opening paragraph.

Old Detroit lives!

Here, in the week before Ford Motor Co. hopes to maybe, sorta' report encouraging third-quarter earnings, a faction of its United Auto Workers membership is on course to torpedo a revised labor agreement -- proving, yet again, that bankruptcies and painful retrenchments aren't enough to shake some real-world sense into a deeply engrained sense of entitlement.

I'm not sure what thought process (if any) is going on in the heads of those union members leading this charge to derail the labor agreement, but they are sadly mistaken if they think the UAW is the power that it once was.

This all reminds me of an A&P  grocery store that we used to have here in town. The local union went on strike, demanding, among other things, ridiculously higher wages for grocery baggers. And they were not going to budge one inch off their position. The store informed them of the impossibility of their demands and that the store would close if some kind of deal couldn't be worked out. The union voted to not give in, the store closed and has been empty over 25 years. But hey, they stood their ground and faced down the company. Nice moral victory guys. I almost forgot... we're also getting along fine without the A&P, buying our groceries at the other stores that moved in to fill the void.

Even Ron Gettlefinger gets it. If the union drives the company into the ground, you can't stock the fridge with a moral victory.

Read the rest of Daniel Howes' at detnews.com

Meanwhile, in the real world... 

AR Index     601.28  -11.80  (-1.92%)

Stocks of individual interest
Toyota  78.25  -2.06
GM        0.61    -0.03
Ford      7.47   -0.10

Dow 9867.96  -224.23   (-2.22%)

3:02 am | Categories: ar index, ford, uaw Comments (1) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 26, 2009 - Suggestion Box

To promote its upcoming extended-range electric vehicle, the Chevy Volt, General Motors is playing a game of "name that color."

If you've seen pictures of the Volt, you're likely already familiar with its greenish-silvery hue. A contest inviting the public to suggest a name for that color launched Friday and will continue through Nov. 4.

People really get hung up on the names of colors, and an "off-color" name can really influence the perception of a color, although in the case of the Volt, the perception of the vehilce may influence the name people might give the color.

Faded Bailout Green anyone?

Read the rest of the article at wpxi.com

 

3:09 am | Categories: automotive news, chevy volt Comments (2) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 25, 2009 - Terminal Do-Goodness

From the TimesArgus.com

Cash for Clunkers put cash in the pockets of new car dealers this summer but left used car dealers scrambling to find pre-owned cars and trucks to sell.

"The problem is we have a demand when we have no supply," said Kevin Smith of Springfield Auto Mart. He said his inventory of used vehicles is down 50 percent from normal levels.

The federal Cash for Clunkers program took older gas guzzling vehicles off the road, offering buyers $3,500 to $4,000 as an incentive to turn in their old vehicles for new, fuel-efficient ones.

The $3 billion program was a success, taking 700,000 vehicles off the road. However, many of those older cars would have wound up on used car lots.

Marilyn Miller, executive director of the Vermont Automobile Dealers Association, said the downside of the Cash for Clunkers programs is that used cars dealers are having trouble getting their hands on good used vehicles.

The geniuses who thought up Cash for Clunkers didn't think of this unintended consequence either? This is what happens when you try to do something that feels good to "help people". Kind of like when the terminal do-gooder-in-chief signed a bill to restrict interest rate increases from credit card companies. Only problem is he gave them nine months to comply and the letters jacking interest rates before they're restircted are flying all over the place. But hey, that interest rate on my charge card tripling to 29.99% isn't what you meant to happen, right? Keep on paving that road with good intentions and you know where we'll wind up.

Please stop trying to help me Mr. President. You're apparently not any good at it.

6:28 am | Categories: commentary Comments (1) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to:

Oct 24, 2009 - Ask Dub Schwartz!

Dear Dub,
Where have you been? Are you OK?
Donger Harris

Well I wasn't on sabbatical, that's for sure! I must have stepped on some hidden cosmic trapdoor because if it can go wrong lately it has. It all started innocently enough when I misplaced my wallet and had to cancel and replace the credit cards. Seemed harmless enough, but it wasn't.
The next day I get back home and someone left the %$## door to the refrigerator propped open and the compressor burned up. Then the $^#* installation guy &^#%ed the @^#%ing installation. Had to go on a road trip and in the rain at night *!@$! ran over a @$!@$%$## screw and ^*&$^%*@  #%$#$%# flat tire $@$!% ^%$^%!   @#$##$ heavy snow #$@%@% power out for 10 hours $^^&$%^%    #%$@    power surge  $@#$@#$  $%$@@  fried mother board $#@!$!$$#31!#@ spend more money $#@%@%....

Thanks for your concern Donger. I'm fine, if just a bit frazzled. But be forewarned. The shop is now a moron-free zone. Enter at your own risk!

5:25 am | Categories: ask dub schwartz, humor Comments (0) | Permalink | Alert Administrator

Add to: