September 10, 2014 online at www.uawlocal2250.com
• This Saturday, Sept. 13, is the annual Union Picnic, to be held at the Union Hall. It will run from 1 pm to 5 pm and feature snack stations and a food buffet. Entertainment and activities will include a DJ, obstacle course, rock wall, giant slide, little bit zone and arts and crafts displays. Bring a lawn chair and your badge or Union card to get into the picnic.
• August was another big month for van sales as our vans outsold the Ford Econoline/Transit combined by over 4000 units. Here’s how the rest of the segment shook out:
2014 2013 Change Share
GM 12,069 9346 +29.1% 49.0%
Ford Econoline 6,702 8631 -22.3% 27.2%
Mercedes Sprinter 1,880 1390 +35.3% 7.6%
Nissan NV 1,227 1027 +19.5% 5.0%
Ram Promaster 1,658 --- --- 6.7%
Ford Transit 1,099 --- --- 4.4%
Ford Transit connect 3,923 3925 even ---
Nissan NV200 1,223 514 +138% ---
Combined, the rest of the entire full-size van offerings only outsold GM by 497 units. In addition, we sold around 1700 passenger vans compared to Ford’s 460. Regarding field supplies, overall they were essentially flat compared with last month, staying at 31 days supply. Looking at midsize trucks, Toyota sold 14,338 Tacomas, down 5.8%. Tacoma sales are down 6.9% for the year. Nissan sold 6770 Frontiers, up 2.8%. Frontier sales are up 16.8% this year.
• Speaking of the new full-size Transit van, Ford was crowing about landing their biggest fleet order for the eurovan. According to TruckTrend, “Ford just landed its first large-volume fleet purchase of Transit vans with 800 units by Connecticut-based Charter Communications, a cable, phone, and internet provider servicing customers in 29 states across the country.” To quote Church Lady, “Well isn’t that special!” Charter’s order consists of low-roof, short-wheelbase cargo vans, meaning they’ll most likely be gas models with the 3.7L V-6 Duratec. In other words, keep your overpriced, raised-roof, ecoboost van. Kinda pales in comparison to our 10,500 unit U-Haul order….
• From Automotive News: Chevrolet dealer Mike Maheras can't wait for a dozen Colorado midsize pickups to arrive at his two stores next month, although he's disappointed he couldn't get more. "I'd have taken as many as they could give me," says Maheras, dealer principal at Phillips Chevrolet of Lansing, Ill., and general manager at the group's Frankfort store south of Chicago. "This is a market that we've been missing since the Colorado went away" in 2012. Maheras' order is one among a surge of requests from dealers for the redesigned 2015 Colorado and its sibling, the GMC Canyon, which return to showrooms in October after a two-year absence. GM says dealers ordered 28,000 Colorados and another 14,000 Canyons during the first 30 days after it began taking orders, more than five times its forecast. Dealers commonly go big on initial orders of newly launched models, when eager buyers are lined up. Still, GM views the reception as a sign that dealers believe in the market for smaller pickups, even as many skeptics question the company's strategy. The launch of the Colorado and Canyon is among the most closely watched in years for GM, and may serve as a bellwether of consumers' pickup preferences. GM is counting on the smaller trucks to give Chevy and GMC lineups that no rival can match: a midsize pickup, plus full-size offerings in the both light- and heavy-duty segments. GM last week announced EPA fuel economy ratings of 18 mpg city/26 highway/21 combined for models with the 3.6 liter V-6 engine, which should be the volume model. That should easily lead the segment, ahead of the 17 city/21 highway/19 combined rating of the Toyota Tacoma's V-6. Maheras is happy that his salespeople will be able to boast segment-leading fuel economy. He's not worried about comparisons to full-size trucks. "There are plenty of other factors the midsize buyer looks at," he says. "They'll like the smaller package and the design."
• From Nooga.com: Coordinators of an employee-created union called American Council of Employees at Volkswagen are accelerating their organizing efforts. Last week, Volkswagen worker Mike Burton, who led anti-United Auto Worker efforts during February's election, announced he was starting the new union at the local plant. The move is an effort to oppose Local 42, which is a local UAW chapter. Establishing Local 42 is another route for the UAW to be recognized by Volkswagen. On the topic of Burton's new efforts, UAW leaders told Reuters that American Council of Employees didn't have much chance at succeeding. According to the article:
Gary Casteel, secretary-treasurer of the UAW, told Reuters on Tuesday he does not see how Burton's union stands much of a chance because VW and the UAW "have a consensus" that the company will recognize Local 42. Casteel said it is up to VW whether it will recognize the new union if Burton is successful in creating one at the VW plant, which has about 1,500 hourly workers.
But American Council of Employees said via the new organization's website that UAW leaders continue to use the word "consensus," but the site notes that VW leaders haven't said anything about that. "Not once has VW acknowledged ANY relationship with the UAW," according to the site. "Curious how some twist misrepresentation until it looks like the truth." Burton said he has about 150 signatures now in support of American Council of Employees, and he needs to get 415. "We hope to announce in the next week or so that we are moving ahead with the blessing from over 30 percent of the hourly and the salaried employees," he said via the site. "That’s 30 percent each." After they do that, American Council of Employees leaders will petition the National Labor Relations Board to be recognized as an employee union, then they will ask Volkswagen officials to be "recognized and voted on by Chattanooga VW employees," according to the site.
Tom Brune
UAW Communications Coordinator
Wentzville Assembly
636-327-2119
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