Nov. 23, 2011 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
From Chairman Mike Bullock: I would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We, in particular, have much to be thankful for here as we add our 2nd shift and prepare for a new product. Also, I would encourage you to participate in the “Adopt A Child” Christmas program – it is a great cause. Finally, remember to try to buy American as you do your Christmas shopping this weekend and beyond.
If you have any questions regarding 2nd shift, you can write them down and drop them in the “Ask John” boxes at the entrances. Your questions will either be answered individually or in the 2ndshift updates in this newsletter.
From the UAW: The UAW strongly supports the proposals detailed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued by the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. "This proposal represents a historic step forward for the U.S. automobile industry," said UAW President Bob King. "It will provide certainty for the manufacturers, significant savings at the gas pump for consumers, and it will create tens of thousands of jobs engineering and producing the technology needed to make vehicles more efficient." King added that, "The Obama administration deserves tremendous credit for including stakeholders in the development of the proposal. The regulatory process of public comments and field hearings will make the proposals stronger and more robust, and the UAW is committed to supporting the proposals during the next phase of rulemaking." A 2010 study by the UAW and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), "Driving Growth," found that improving light-duty vehicle efficiency to 40 mpg by 2020 could create up to 190,000 jobs in the United States. A 2011 study by the UAW, NRDC and the National Wildlife Federation found that there are currently over 500 facilities in the United States employing more than 150,000 people engaged in some aspect of developing or producing fuel-efficient vehicles or their key components. "We believe that this sets the stage for a green-based revival of the U.S. auto industry," said King. "By delivering the efficient vehicles customers want, we will become more competitive, and that is ultimately what leads to a brighter future for everyone in our industry."
From Business Week: U.S. automakers are split on whether to abandon their small pickups, which buyers have left for dead and regulators may try to revive. Ford Motor Co. is ending U.S. sales of Ranger and betting it can hold its share of full-size trucks by concentrating resources on the F-Series. GM is wagering that buyers may come back to the mid-size segment if gasoline prices rise. Mid-size pickups cost almost as much as their full-size counterparts without much boost in fuel economy. “The segment has been in decline for quite a while, so that calls into question whether it’s viable,” R.L. Polk & Co.’s Tom Libby said in a phone interview. “The trend going in the other direction is fuel-economy requirements and an inevitable movement toward smaller vehicles. It’s an unsettled situation.” Mike Levine, a Ford spokesman, said, “You really can’t argue with the sales numbers here. We have very strong demand for full-size pickups, and that’s where we are putting our time and investment.”
One in five owners of GM and Chrysler’s smaller trucks who returned to market for a new vehicle last year moved up into the full-size segment, according to Polk data. The rate among Ford owners was about one in six. If Ford’s gamble falls through, it would undo relentless efforts to protect the “crown jewel” F-150 from Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., Libby said. “The domestic manufacturers poured everything they had into their products to try and stop Toyota” and have succeeded, he said. Compact trucks have plunged to 16 percent of pickup sales this year through October. Toyota and Nissan now have 56 percent of the mid-size truck segment and only 7 percent of the full-size market.
• From Bloomberg: Toyota may shift a significant amount of production to the U.S. should demand in Japan fail to rebound and the majority of its output is shipped overseas. "If demand in Japan recovers, we will continue and work to maintain production of 3 million units" in Japan, President Akio Toyoda said Thursday. "If most of it becomes exports, shifting a significant amount of production to the U.S. may be considered." The automaker has pledged to protect jobs in Japan even though the yen's appreciation to a post-World War II high versus the dollar has eroded profitability. The yen has gained more than 9% against the U.S. dollar in the past six months. Toyota, which reported an operating loss of 32.6 billion yen ($425 million) in the fiscal first half, said the strong yen reduced operating income by 130 billion yen ($1.75 billion). The yen's appreciation against the dollar and euro slashed Japanese automakers' profit by 330 billion yen ($4.3 billion) in the first half, according to JAMA. "If the yen continues to stay strong, Toyota will collapse," Toyoda said.
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