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Farley reacts as UAW expands strike against Ford, GM

Members of the United Auto Worker union walk out of the Chicago Ford Assembly Plant as Lance Williams from Lansing, Ill., waves the UAW flag Friday. (AP)   As the United Auto Workers walk off the job at an additional Ford and General Motors plant, Ford CEO Jim Farley addressed investors and members of the media Friday, pleading the case for the company's latest overture to the union and addressing both public and investor concerns regarding the core issues facing American manufacturing.  Farley made a public case for Ford's efforts to resolve the dispute, expressing frustration with the ongoing stalemate and noting both the concessions Ford offered before the strike began and the signing of a contract with Canada's Unifor. Farley also acknowledged UAW President Shawn Fain's success in getting the union's message out, quipping: "Shawn has been on TV more than Jake from State Farm at this point." The first-ever simultaneous strike against the Detroit Three automakers enters its third week with threats of continued expansion, but little in the way of obvious concrete progress.  "If the UAW’s goal is a record contract, they have already achieved this," Farley said. "It is grossly irresponsible to escalate these strikes and hurt thousands of families." Farley also lamented the fact that EVs have become the subject of partisan conflict, with the company's recently announced battery production facilities taking heat from both pundits and investors as Ford was forced to press pause on the venture while negotiations continue. Former President Donald Trump dropped in to Michigan this week to declare EVs the enemy of blue-collar jobs. "They've become a political football, and that's a shame," he said. Friday saw an expansion of the UAW strike to Ford's Chicago assembly plant and GM's Lansing, Delta Township, Michigan, assembly plant, covering about 7,000 workers, Fain said in an announcement, bringing the total number of workers on the picket lines to 25,000. The strike will not include any additional members at Stellantis, where talks have reportedly been more productive. The Ford and GM plants went on strike at noon Eastern today (Friday). Ford builds the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator in Chicago. GM's Delta Township plant builds Chevy Traverse and Buick Enclave. "Despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress," Fain said in a video address Friday morning.

2016 Tech of the Year | Autoblog Minute

Deliberation on the winners of Autoblog's Tech of the Year Award is under way. Nominees for best car in 2016 are: the Tesla Model S, the Chevy Volt and the BMW 7 series. Nominees for best tech in 2016 are: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, VW's MiB II with AppConnect, Ford Sync 3, Audi Virtual Cockpit, the Smart Cross Connect App, and Volvo Sensus. Autoblog's Chris McGraw reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute. Audi BMW Chevrolet Ford smart Tesla Volvo Technology of the Year Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video volt android auto ford sync 3

Here's how the EcoCAR 3 teams are going to green up their Camaros

Plug-in hybrids were probably not what the Dead Milkmen had in mind when they wrote their 1985 alt-punk classic Bitchin' Camaro (OK, we're not really sure what they had in mind), but we're certainly fans of the effort. The 16 college teams competing in the third version of the EcoCAR green-vehicle contest have declared which powertrains they will attempt to build for maximum environmental friendliness. They'll be working with 2016 Chevrolet Camaros that General Motors is donating to the competition. The US Department of Energy is also helping to fund the competition. Out of the 16, all but one will go with a plug-in hybrid powertrain which switches over from electric power to an engine powered by E85 (i.e., an 85-percent ethanol blend) when the juice runs out. Those schools include the University of Alabama, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Ohio State and Penn State. The lone dissenter is the team from the University of Tennessee, which is going with a hybrid vehicle powered by E10. This past spring, Ohio State was named winner of Year One of EcoCAR3, winning $10,000 in the process. THE Ohio State University (as students and alumni like to call it) also won the overall competition for EcoCAR 2 last year. The vehicle used in that project was a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, and OSU also used a plug-in hybrid/E85 combo to take the big prize. Take a look at the list of schools and their powertrains of choice for EcoCAR 3 here. Related Video: