It’s been a tough year for Detroit: suppliers have gone broke, two of the Big Three have reported massive losses, there’ve been job cuts and plant closings. And the foreign competition has steadily gained ground. So it’s not surprising that folks around the Motor City are looking to wish goodbye to 2005. But what does the New Year have to offer? The economy is going strong, and that means a good new car market. The Big Three all have solid products coming to showrooms in 2006, and according to consumer surveys, domestic quality now rivals the best of the imports. That means the Big Three have their best chance in years to turn things around. Meanwhile, on the labor side, union and management suddenly realize they have common goals, and that should help reduce costs. There’s no denying the coming year will see further restructuring. Indeed, we can expect some major news from Ford late in January that will echo the cutbacks announced by General Motors. But we’d like to think there are some things to look forward to.--Paul A. Eisenstein
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Some disgruntled workers at the Ford Motor Co. are calling for a recount of the ratification vote that approved a series of contract changes that will lead to blue-collar workers and retirees paying more fore their healthcare. Last week, the United Auto Workers said that Ford workers had approved a new agreement with the automaker by a narrow 51-percent margin. The margin favoring ratfication was one of the slimmest on a major UAW-Big Three contract in the past 25 years.
Even before the voting started, union officials had predicted a close vote because the changes to the contract are unpopular with both active workers, who will pay slightly higher co-pays on prescription drugs, and with retirees who are now obligated to pay up $752 per year for "in network" health services and up to $1,252 per year if they go outside the network. The changes are expected to save Ford as much as $850 million annually.
The agreement still needs court approval but a similar pact with GM has already been approved by the U.S. District Court in Detroit. In addition, it appears that some workers used the healthcare vote to register an early protest against Ford's turnaround plan that could lead to the elimination of thousands of blue-collar jobs. The plan is due out in January.-- Joseph Szczesny
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Our
Wild, Weird and Wacky Street Names contest is off to a roaring start, although we're not sure what to make of Farfrompoopin Rd. Keep sending in your entries and we will sustain our disbelief until Feb. 1.
For the first time Lindsay Lohan was an infant, the
market share of cars has gone up. Could it have anything to do with her driving skills? Don't ask us -
ask Herbie.
Spies caught the
new Volvo S80 in South Africa this week, taking advantage of the sun that deserts Scandinavia this time of year. See more pictures here, or wait until the Geneva motor show if you can stand it that long.
Kirk Kerkorian unloaded some of his GM shares this week. And along with the news that Toyota could pass GM in worldwide sales next year, the news sent GM shares tumbling. At Chrysler, the sense of
schadenfreude can be discussed openly, since they all speak German.
Meanwhile,
Ford sits in limbo - flush with the proceeds from selling Hertz, but weeks away from a painful retrenchment at home. With the news that the company will pump another
$2 billion into Jaguar, all those rumors about Renault buying the British brand seem to have evaporated.
More of you are talking and driving - and if you're reading this behind the wheel too, we're really scared. Pull over and keep the cockpit for driving, will ya?
TCC will be back after the Christmas break with more news and information. All of us wish all of you
peace on earth and
goodwill toward others.
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Transparency is the name of the game for Rinspeed’s latest concept, which seems actually conservative compared to its recent offerings — like cars with wings. Next year’s Geneva motor show will host the unveiling of the Rinspeed zaZen, a concept that promises enlightened auto thinking along the lines of Zen principles. A transparent roof made of polycarbonate plastic is the signature piece of the concept, which uses part of the roof structure as a holographic area. The entire roof can be darkened at the touch of a button, too. Passengers sit in plastic see-through orange shells like a serving of hipster Oysters Rockefeller — an apt metaphor since the whole car is coated in Swarovski crystals protected by clearcoat. Like all Rinspeed concept cars, this one’s as reality-based as an average episode of
Survivor.
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Volkswagen’s reputation lost a big shot at sexy street cred last week when
Desperate housewife Teri Hatcher won a libel case against a British tabloid, which reported she’d been having wild sex romps in a VW van parked outside her L.A. home. The 41-year-old actress, suitably dismayed by the tabloid story, sued the Daily Sport for the story and won undisclosed libel damages from the paper for the story, which it now concedes was “entirely false.” A public apology is in the works for the piece, which ran under the titillating headline, “Teri’s Passion Wagon,” and subcaptioned, “Tasty Teri’s old VW (Volkswagen) helps her with her sex drive.” Hatcher admits that she does in fact own a VW van but that she used it for weekend trips with her daughter. (Settle down now, boys!)
Posted in : Enthusiasts, Reviews, Shoppers
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Marty Padgett December 27th, 2005
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