State of the Union August 23, 2010

August 23, 2010 online at www.uawlocal2250.com


The Women’s Committee is still accepting teams for the golf tournament Saturday, Aug. 28. This is a three person scramble with a 1:30 pm shotgun start at Bear Creek golf course in Wentzville. Cost is $70 per player/$210 per team. Entry forms available at the entrances.

From the Detroit News: Toyota Motor Corp. officials bragged in late 2007 that they saved more than $100 million by deterring U.S. safety officials from ordering costly repairs to prevent runaway vehicles, e-mails obtained by The Detroit News show. The communications suggest some executives knew of the situation nearly two years earlier than was acknowledged in a July 2009 internal company document that surfaced this year. In addition to the financial savings, the newly released e-mails indicate for the first time that senior Toyota executives were worried they'd be forced to take additional action. In the newly surfaced e-mails dated Sept. 14, 2007, Chris Tinto, Toyota's vice president for technical and regulatory safety, contacted Josephine Cooper, the automaker's vice president of public policy and government/industry affairs. "NHTSA feels they have too many complaints on this one vehicle to drop the issue," Tinto wrote. "The results of a stuck throttle are 'catastrophic.' " Tinto also downplayed the floor mat recall, saying it was the product of talks with NHTSA. "We will 'recall' the '07 ES and Camry floor mat, however we will NOT declare that a 'safety defect' exists," Tinto wrote. "Of course the owner letter will say that a defect WAS found in the mat, to ensure that owners pay attention to the notice and secure the mats correctly."

From Automotive News: On July 23, when Ford announced second-quarter net income of $2.6 billion, CFO Lewis Booth sounded one cautionary note: Ford's ability to pay off $7 billion in debt was "one of the high points of the quarter." He added that reducing debt continues to be "very urgent" for Ford. Now that both Ford's and General Motor’s second-quarter numbers are out, a little basic math shows why.
-- In the second quarter, Ford sold 1.418 million vehicles. It paid $1.636 billion in interest. That's $1,154 in interest expense per vehicle sold.
-- GM sold 2.153 million vehicles and paid $250 million in interest expenses. That's a mere $116 per vehicle.
-- The key number: Ford had $1,038 more interest cost per vehicle than GM.