Jan. 17, 2012 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
Union meeting is tomorrow, Jan. 18 at 4:15 am, 7:15 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 4:45 pm. These times may vary as the meeting times will be 15 minutes after the longest shift line time.
Correction: The proposed down weeks for the month of September this year are the weeks of 9/3 and 9/10 (some copies had an incorrect date for the second week)
From Inside Line: Now that Chrysler's Dodge Dakota is officially out of production, Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show dealing out some talk about what a next-generation Dakota is likely to encompass. At the Detroit show on Monday, Marchionne said matter-of-factly in a session with reporters that there will be a new Dakota — and that it's a "better than 50-percent chance" that it will be based on a carlike unibody structure rather than a traditional body-on-frame architecture. That's either a good or bad thing, depending on your vector about what a midsize pickup needs to be able to do. If you think a unibody Dakota is a good idea, then it gets better: the Chrysler CEO also said chances are good a diesel engine will be offered for the new Dakota. It's not surprising Chrysler's committed to a next-gen of the Dakota, given that chief rival General Motors confirmed last year it will return to the U.S. market with the Colorado midsize pickup, using an all-new, second-generation body-on-frame Colorado developed largely for Asia and Latin American markets — and that when launched in Thailand last fall, had only diesels as its engine options. The U.S.-spec Colorado will be built at GM's assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri. This leaves Ford, which at the end of 2011 pulled down the curtain on production of the Ranger, as the last of Detroit's Big Three automakers to remain uncommitted to a midsize pickup.
From the Detroit Free Press: Americans are holding onto cars and trucks longer, pushing the average age of a vehicle to a record 10.8 years. The Polk research firm said today that the average age of a car last July was 11.1 years, while the truck average was 10.4. Unemployment and the sour economy have caused people to put off buying cars and trucks. Polk says the average vehicle age has been rising since 2008. But the firm says a sales rebound last year is likely to slow the aging rate. Car companies sold 12.8 million vehicles in the U.S. last year, up from 11.6 million in 2010. In 2010 the average vehicle on U.S. roads was 10.6 years old, up from 10 years in 2008.
From Automotive News: Chrysler Group plans to add a large expansion to its current facilities in Saltillo, Mexico, to assemble a Ram-branded version of the Fiat Ducato commercial van for North America. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Chrysler Group, said this week at the Detroit auto show that the expansion of the Saltillo plant would make it "the center for production of light-commercial vehicles in North America for us.” A Chrysler spokesman would not confirm the size of the investment, but company sources said it was expected to be about $500 million. Chrysler already operates a truck assembly plant, a stamping plant and two engine plants in Saltillo, about 180 miles southwest of Laredo, Texas. Marchionne said the front-wheel-drive full-sized commercial van shares a platform with the Peugeot Boxer in Europe. "It's designed perfectly to try and deal with the market segment here in the United States, so we think it will grow," he said. The Ducato is scheduled to arrive in North America in 2013, Marchionne said. Its European versions have a 135.8-inch wheelbase, compared with the 138-inch wheelbase of the rear-wheel-drive Ford Econoline commercial van. Chrysler previously said it would bring the smaller Fiat Doblo to North America as a light-duty commercial van and that it is studying bringing over the larger Fiat Daily as well. The Doblo is similar in size to the Ford Transit Connect. The Fiat Ducato
From the New York Times: After an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mini is recalling almost 89,000 of its turbocharged models because they could catch fire when the engine is off. In a report filed over the weekend, BMW, the parent company of Mini, told the safety agency that the auxiliary water pump designed to dissipate heat from the turbocharger was the cause of the hazard. The manufacturer said the pump’s circuit board may malfunction, allowing the board to overheat and the water pump to fail. “In an extreme case,” BMW said, overheating of the circuit board could cause a fire. BMW received its first report of a water-pump failure in 2009, and in May and July 2010 learned of two vehicles with “a burned engine compartment.” The automaker said it continued to monitor the situation, but did not notify the agency. Last October, however, N.H.T.S.A. began its own investigation after receiving complaints from owners, including 12 reports of engine fires — five of which asserted “engulfing fires resulting in a total vehicle loss.” Eight owners complained that the fires began when the vehicle was parked and the engine turned off. BMW decided this month that a recall was needed, the automaker said. It was not aware of any accidents or injuries. The models affected by the recall are the 2007-11 Cooper S; 2008-11 Cooper S Clubman; 2009-11 Cooper S convertible; 2011 Cooper S Countryman; and the 2009-11 John Cooper Works, John Cooper Works Clubman and John Cooper Works convertible. BMW describes the recall as voluntary, but under federal regulations once an automaker is aware of a safety problem it has no choice but to inform the agency of its plan for a recall.
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