State of the Union March 28, 2011

March 28, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
•AT&T is putting 101 Chevrolet Express Cargo 2500 vans powered by low-emissions compressed natural gas into its customer service fleet. The purchase is consistent with AT&T’s alternative fuel strategy to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and to support sustainable transportation. CNG-powered vans can produce 25 percent fewer emissions than similar gasoline- and diesel-powered vans. The vans get gasoline-equivalent fuel economy of 11 mpg city and 16 mpg highway. Fuel tank capacity ranges from 15.8 to 23 gasoline-equivalent gallons (there appears to be only one CNG filling station in this area – Laclede in Shrewsbury, $1.89 a gallon).

•Earthquake update: The Shreveport plant (Chevy Colorado) has been restarted. Nissan is saying that they expect to be fully operational in a matter of “weeks, not months”. Honda has informed their North American employees that "there is a likelihood that we will experience some temporary interruptions to North American vehicle production after that date (April 1), until the parts supply issues are resolved." Orders are being suspended from Honda’s U.S. dealers for Japan-built models including the Fit, Insight, CR-Z, Civic Hybrid, Acura TSX and Acura RL. Also affected are a small number of CR-Vs. Research firm IHS Automotive said in a report, "The capability to produce integrated circuits, semi-conductors, LCD displays/films, and sensors is still in question. This is possibly most important to global OEMs — the downstream effects are beginning to influence volume outside Japan." In addition, the quake zone is the home of "gear manufacturing, seal systems, clutch components, specialty bearings, and other capital-intensive, application-specific components, for which alternate supply sources are difficult to find," IHS said. Ford is idling a Belgian plant for 5 days to conserve parts. Nearly all manufacturers are beginning to limit orders for certain vehicle colors like red and black. Automotive News reports that Renesas Electronics Corp., the world's biggest maker of automotive microcontrollers and a key bottleneck in Japan's parts shortage, says one of two auto-related factories damaged by this month's earthquake won't be operational until July. Renesas only recently restored electricity and lighting to its Naka plant in the quake zone and will now start assessing damage to its clean rooms and wafer fabrication lines. "It's a completely unprecedented situation," said UBS auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. "Normalizing operations requires not only repairs at the vehicle assembly plants, but also the restoration of facilities at a wide range of parts suppliers, public service companies, and distributors.” Indeed, the machines that produce chip wafers must be able to run uninterrupted, requiring a steady supply of electricity. It can take up to a week to restart a machine that has been idled.