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Foreign automakers pay from $38 to $65 per hour to non-union workers

As leaders for the United Auto Workers gather in Detroit for their Special Convention on Collective Bargaining to work out the negotiating stance for this year's new labor agreements with the Detroit 3 automakers, what they most want to do is figure out how to eliminate the two-tier wage scale. However, the lower Tier 2 wage has allowed the domestic automakers to reduce their labor costs, hire more workers, and compete better with their import competition. As it stands, per-hour labor rates including benefits are $58 at General Motors, $57 at Ford, and $48 at Fiat-Chrysler – a reflection of FCA's much greater number of Tier 2 workers. The Center for Automotive Research released a study of labor rates (including benefits) that put numbers to what the imports pay: Mercedes-Benz pays the most, at an average of $65 per hour, Volkswagen pays the least, at $38 per hour, and BMW is just a hair above that at $39 per hour. Among the Detroit competitors, Honda workers earn an average of $49 per hour, at Toyota it's $48 per hour, Nissan is $42 per hour, and Hyundai-Kia pays $41 per hour. The lower import wages are aided by their greater use of temporary workers compared to the domestics. Automotive News says the ten-dollar gap between those foreign camakers and the domestics turns out to about an extra $250 per car in labor, which adds up quickly when you're pumping out many millions of cars. That $250-per-car number is one that, come negotiating time, the Detroit 3 will want to reduce, as the UAW is trying to raise both Tier 1 and Tier 2 wages. Another wrinkle is that the domestic carmakers are considering the wide adoption of a third wage level lower than Tier 2. Some workers who do minor tasks like assembling parts trays kits and battery packs already make less than Tier 2, but the UAW will be quite wary about cementing yet another wage scale at the bottom of the system while it's trying to fight a bigger battle at the top. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req., BloombergImage Credit: AP Photo/Erik Schelzig Earnings/Financials UAW/Unions BMW Chevrolet Fiat Ford GM Honda Hyundai Kia Mercedes-Benz Nissan Toyota Volkswagen labor wages collective bargaining labor costs

UAW strike's three-pronged attack focuses on popular midsize trucks, SUVs

The United Auto Workers announced at midnight last night that they would begin targeted strikes at Ford's Michigan Assembly, Stellantis' Toledo Assembly and GM's Wentzville Assembly — all three home to midsize pickups and, in the case of Toledo and Michigan, popular midsize SUVs.  The Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator (just updated for 2024), Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon are all built on lines that have been shut down by the strike. The Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler, which share fundamental underpinnings with the Ranger and Gladiator, respectively, are also in on the party. GM's Wentzville Assembly also builds the GMC Savana and Chevy Express vans, neither of which is a big player in the retail market. While midsize pickups may not move in the quantities we see from the half-ton segment, all of these are fairly high-volume models. Ford sold nearly 120,000 Broncos along with more than 55,000 Rangers in 2022; Wrangler and Gladiator combined for nearly 260,000 units last year (181,000 of those were Wranglers) and the Colorado/Canyon represented more than 117,000 sales for General Motors. Throw in the nearly 80,000 units for Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana, and production from these facilities equated to more than 500,000 units sold in 2022.  Ford has been struggling since launch to deliver its wildly popular Bronco to waiting enthusiasts. With supply woes largely easing last year, the company caught up to a great deal of its pre-existing demand, but lingering supply chain and quality control issues have continued to plague the manufacturer even as general constraints have eased. Even earlier this year, Ford said it was selling every unit it could produce. The Ranger, freshly redesigned for the U.S. market, is still getting its feet wet.  Jeep likewise has been on a tear. Sales of the 4x4 have remained so steady that the Wrangler 4xe became the country's best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicle pretty much by accident. Jeep just formally confirmed this week that a 4xe variant of the Gladiator pickup is on the way by 2025 — and they said you couldn't sell hybrids to truck and SUV buyers.  At GM, meanwhile, the Colorado and Canyon are sporting fresh redesigns for the 2023 model year, with production of both still ramping up. And while the Chevy Express and GMC Savana vans may not be popular consumer models, GM still sold more than 77,000 of them last year combined.  Related video: Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chevrolet Ford GMC Jeep Truck SUV

2015 Chevy Tahoe gets Police Patrol Vehicle treatment

That was fast. Mere days after showing a Police Concept based on the 2015 Tahoe at the SEMA Show, Chevrolet has announced that it will build a PPV model based on the SUV to do battle with the Ford Police Interceptor Utility (Explorer) and Dodge Durango Special Service.
You'll recall that the Tahoe has been police staple for several years, predating both the Explorer and Durango police variants, so the fact that the new model would spawn a police variant is hardly surprising. Like the civilian model, the 2015 PPV benefits from a more efficient 5.3-liter, direct-injection V8 that pumps out 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. It also features more high-strength steel, offering better crash protection, on top of optional safety items like lane departure warning, forward collision alert and a Safety Alert Seat.
The press release is rather light on police-specific items, aside from the auxiliary battery, which keeps the myriad of electronics in a modern police car running even when the engine isn't. Lightbars, 17-inch steel wheels on Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires and a push bar round out the mods for the Tahoe PPV. The cabin features a revised center console and room for laptop and other equipment mounts.