State of the Union August 18, 2011

August 18, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com

From Chairman Mike Bullock: In the event that we get a sechttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifond shift, there will be a need for roughly 50 additional team leaders. If you are interested in becoming a team leader go to personnel and sign up for the assessment test. Also, there would be many new openings in each department that will be filled in part with 63B transfers, so you need to have a transfer request on file, which you can get at personnel.

From the Benefits Department: If you are a Tier 2 employee that recently became eligible for dental and eye exams, you need to see your benefit representative for assistance in contacting Fidelity to add any dependants as they are not automatically enrolled.

If you wish to check on the status of your employee referral you can call DDI at 1-800-973-1465.

Open House update: The Wentzville Assembly Center Open House – scheduled for Sept. 14 from 10 am to 5 pm – will feature many activities for our guests. Outside the plant, there will be a classic car display featuring vehicles from a couple of local groups; the Ambassador ride-and-drive featuring 2 Chevy Volts along with nearly the entire GM vehicle lineup; two of the Transformers vehicles – Bumblebee and Stingray; Safe Kids and NY Life child ID service: vendor tents for Make-A-Wish, Harrison’s Hope, United Way and Re-Store; a Harley Davidson display; a variety of our vans in upfitted fashion; a UAW/GM retiree’s booth and food specials from Pete’s Drive-In. The ride-and-drive route is still under discussion and when it is finalized you will be informed. Tomorrow we will cover the activities going on inside the plant. Flyers will be available at the entrances. No invitations required.

From the Veteran’s Committee: Veterans Commemorative Bricks are now on sale. The price is $35 per 4” by 8” brick and they will be used to construct a walkway at the Veterans Memorial in the front of the plant. Each brick will be limited to one name and 18 characters (including spaces) per line. The name on the brick shows your support of the Memorial and does not have to be a veteran. Order forms are available from members of the Veterans Committee and you can see Steve Melson at column C-40, front seat install.

According to an article at Automotive News, Ft. Wayne will be cancelling all Saturday overtime for the remainder of the year and have an additional downweek after Christmas break. The report cited a notice on the UAW Local 2209 website, which has subsequently been removed. GM has no official comment on the report, but it is widely known that pickup inventories are running high and GM VP of Sales Don Johnson has said that inventories would be adjusted through production moves as opposed to increased incentives.

From Bloomberg: Mike Sussman is one of the buyers helping General Motors Co. (GM) come back in the small-car business. The 45-year-old systems analyst just traded in a Toyota Prius for a Chevrolet Cruze, seeking both high mileage and more pep. “I was very, very leery about buying U.S., to be honest,” said Sussman, who lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. “They got me with the mileage. It actually drives like a regular car. With a Prius, you always feel like you’re driving a science experiment. It just doesn’t have a lot of guts.” The Cruze was the best-selling U.S. compact in July at 24,648 cars, beating the Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus, and it outsold cars of any size in June. GM has found the sweet spot in the market, pricing the Cruze at as little as $16,525, between the Corolla and the Prius, and delivering mileage of 30 mpg or more. The Cruze helped make GM the world’s top seller of vehicles in the first half, a ranking it lost on an annual basis in 2008, the year before the company’s government-backed bailout. The company’s rise in the small-car market, where GM has traditionally been a laggard, is emblematic of a turnaround for the automaker. GM’s U.S. market share rose to 20 percent in this year’s first seven months, from 19.2 percent in the year-earlier period. Passenger cars accounted for 42 percent of the Detroit- based company’s sales, compared with 39 percent last year, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. While GM’s small-car revival has followed the March 11 natural disasters that delayed production at Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) and Honda Motor Co., the spurt may not be an anomaly. GM is benefiting from improved cars and new advertising plus missteps by the Japanese rivals, analysts and executives said. “We’re competitive for the first time ever,” Joel Ewanick, GM’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview. “The buyers are completely different than we’ve seen before.” GM has sold 147,620 Cruzes in the U.S. this year through July, more than the 74,427 Prius sold during that period while still trailing Corolla at 154,324. Cruze sells for $16,525 to $22,920. Prius sells for $23,520 to $30,000 while Corolla’s price range is $15,900 to $17,770. It’s a profitable car for GM, said Jim Hall, principal of consulting firm 2953 Analytics Inc. in Birmingham, Michigan. The Cruze’s average price is $4,200 more than Cobalt, the GM model it replaced. Cobalt lost money on all but the most- expensive trim levels, Hall said.

From the Wall Street Journal: Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. dealers say they are headed for their most difficult month of sales since the March 11 earthquake in Japan disrupted production at the automaker's factories at home and in North America. The Japanese automaker, which has been slower to lift production than rivals' Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., is suffering from depleted inventories on U.S. dealer lots, leaving its retailers bracing for a significant decline in sales this month. "This will definitely be the worst month as it relates to Honda dealers," said Florida dealer Rick Case, whose Fort Lauderdale Honda store is one of the largest in the U.S. by sales. Mr. Case said his dealership has about one-fifth its normal level of supply and sales are falling dramatically as a result. "We're out of Civics, we are out of Accords, we don't have any Odysseys," Mr. Case said. He usually sells between 400 and 500 Hondas a month and keeps 1,000 cars and light trucks on his lot. He has fewer than 200 vehicles in inventory, he said. Honda's U.S. sales fell 28% in July and the company ended the month with 84,705 vehicles, enough to last 27 days at the current rate of sales, according to Autodata Corp. At the beginning of the year it had 227,438 vehicles in stock.