1962 Dodge Lancer 770 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ford, Stellantis workers join those at GM in ratifying contract that ended UAW strikes

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union overwhelmingly ratified new contracts with Ford and Stellantis, that along with a similar deal with General Motors will raise pay across the industry, force automakers to absorb higher costs and help reshape the auto business as it shifts away from gasoline-fueled vehicles. Workers at Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles, voted 68.8% in favor of the deal. Their approval brought to a close a contentious labor dispute that included name-calling and a series of punishing strikes that imposed high costs on the companies and led to significant gains in pay and benefits for UAW workers. The deal at Stellantis passed by a roughly 10,000 vote margin, with ballot counts ending Saturday afternoon. Workers at Ford voted 69.3% in favor of the pact, which passed with nearly a 15,000-vote margin in balloting that ended early Saturday. Earlier this week, GM workers narrowly approved a similar contract. The agreements, which run through April 2028, will end contentious talks that began last summer and led to six-week-long strikes at all three automakers. Shawn Fain, the pugnacious new UAW leader, had branded the companies enemies of the UAW who were led by overpaid CEOs, declaring the days of union cooperation with the automakers were over. After summerlong negotiations failed to produce a deal, Fain kicked off strikes on Sept. 15 at one assembly plant at each company. The union later extended the strike to parts warehouses and other factories to try to intensify pressure on the automakers until tentative agreements were reached late in October. The new contract agreements were widely seen as a victory for the UAW. The companies agreed to dramatically raise pay for top-scale assembly plant workers, with increases and cost-of-living adjustments that would translate into 33% wage gains. Top assembly plant workers are to receive immediate 11% raises and will earn roughly $42 an hour when the contracts expire in April of 2028. Under the agreements, the automakers also ended many of the multiple tiers of wages they had used to pay different workers. They also agreed in principle to bring new electric-vehicle battery plants into the national union contract. This provision will give the UAW an opportunity to unionize the EV battery plants plants, which will represent a rising share of industry jobs in the years ahead.

Stormtrooper Dodge Charger Episode II: Attack of the Scones

We spent a day with a Dodge Charger that looks like a Stormtrooper helmet and made a few videos. This one features a bewildered Stormtrooper in the Starbucks drive-thru. Read about the car and watch the rest of the videos here. Dodge Videos Original Video star wars dodge charger scat pack the force awakens

New Viper 'is a possibility,' Sergio Marchionne says

It was thought the door to the future for the Dodge Viper had closed last year, but Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne reopened it during his press conference at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. Marchionne said the current Viper is the only FCA product to use the ZD platform, which "doesn't make sense to me." Yet, "given the architectural development within the brand, there is a possibility that a new version of the Viper may surface." Automobile reports that the company uses a versatile, rear- and all-wheel drive Giorgio platform for Alfa Romeo and Dodge. It will support the Alfa Romeo Giulia (Alfa Romeo's larger BMW 5 Series competitor), the next-generation Dodge Challenger, Charger, and rumored Barracuda, and it could support a new generation of Viper. We're probably talking about a different kind of Viper, though, with Automobile saying, "the current car's truck-based V-10 no doubt would be scrapped along with its platform." A Viper without a V10 doesn't seem like a Viper to us, but we'll wait to see what happens. In the midst of contract negotiations for a new labor agreement between FCA and the United Auto Workers last year, it emerged that the Conner Avenue Assembly plant that builds the Viper hadn't been given any new product after the end of Viper build-out in 2017. That led most to reason that the current Viper would be the end of the 25-year run of America's hairiest sports car. How long we'll be waiting is unknown. Marchionne had no timetable and admitted that a future Viper might not appear on the heels of the current one. With a renewed commitment to being debt-free by 2018, FCA is likely more focused on getting Alfa Romeo running properly and cranking out the volume variants for the Giorgio platform first. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2014 SRT Viper GTS: Review View 36 Photos News Source: Automobile via World Car FansImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Drew Phillips / AOL Detroit Auto Show Dodge Coupe Performance Sergio Marchionne FCA conner avenue assembly plant