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Autoblog Podcast #326

Easter Jeep Safari concepts, Shelby 1000, 2014 Cadillac CTS and Mercedes CLA45 AMG leaks
Episode #326 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth and Zach Bowman talk about this year's Easter Jeep Safari concepts, the 1,200-horsepower Shelby 1000 and leaked images of the 2014 Cadillac CTS and Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG. We wrap with your questions and emails, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #326:

The UAW's 'record contract' hinges on pensions, battery plants

DETROIT - After nearly four weeks of disruptive strikes and hard bargaining, the United Auto Workers and the Detroit Three automakers have edged closer to a deal that could offer record-setting wage gains for nearly 150,000 U.S. workers. General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler parent Stellantis have all agreed to raise base wages by between 20% and 23% over a four-year deal, according to union and company statements. Ford and Stellantis have agreed to reinstate cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA. The companies have offered to boost pay for temporary workers and give them a faster path to full-time, full-wage status. All three have proposed slashing the time it takes a new hire to get to the top UAW pay rate. The progress in contract talks follows the first-ever simultaneous strike by the UAW against Detroit's Big Three automakers. The union began the strike on Sept. 15 in hopes of forcing a better deal from each major automaker. But coming close to a deal is not the same thing as reaching a deal. Big obstacles remain on at least two major UAW demands: restoring the retirement security provided by pre-2007 defined benefit pension plans, and covering present and future joint- venture electric vehicle battery plants under the union's master contracts with the automakers. On retirement, none of the automakers has agreed to restore pre-2007 defined-benefit pension plans for workers hired after 2007. Doing so could force the automakers to again burden their balance sheets with multibillion-dollar liabilities. GM and the former Chrysler unloaded most of those liabilities in their 2009 bankruptcies. The union and automakers have explored an approach to providing more income security by offering annuities as an investment option in their company-sponsored 401(k) savings plans, people familiar with the discussions said. Stellantis referred to an annuity option as part of a more generous 401(k) proposal on Sept. 22. Annuities or similar instruments could give UAW retirees assurance of fixed, predictable payouts less dependent on stock market ups and downs, experts said. Recent changes in federal law have removed obstacles to including annuities as a feature of corporate 401(k) plans, said Olivia Mitchell, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and an expert on pensions and retirement. "Retirees want a way to be assured they won't run out of money," Mitchell said.

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Cadillac Cimarron

The General's Cadillac Division hit its all-time sales record during the 1973 model year, with 304,839 cars sold. Then the OPEC oil embargo in the fall of that year caused oil prices to triple, while simultaneously accelerating several negative trends in the American economy. In the aftermath, sales of imported luxury cars surged, the President resigned, the communists conquered South Vietnam, and Cadillac introduced a compact car based on the proletariat Chevrolet Nova. Sales of those Sevilles — which cost better than triple the price of their Nova siblings — proved strong, and so it seemed to make sense to create a Cadillac-ized version of the Nova's replacement: the front-wheel-drive Chevrolet Cavalier, which debuted for the 1982 model year. Thus was the Cadillac Cimarron born, and that's what we've got for today's Junkyard Gem. The Cimarron stayed in production for the 1982 through 1988 model years, but sales were strongest for the first few years and so the 1982-83 cars make up the bulk of my Cimarron junkyard finds. This very clean '87 in a Denver-area yard is a rare late-production car. Although the Cimarron was by far the swankiest GM J-Body ever made, its Cavalier ancestry was unmistakable. While the Nova-based Seville caused some grumbling over the cheapening of the Cadillac brand, the Cimarron inspired widespread anger and loathing among those who love cars. Even with a leather interior and nice audio system, the Cimarron still caused pain to its owners who saw cheapo Cavaliers (and Pontiac J2000s and Olds Firenzas) looking nearly identical at a glance yet costing far less. In 1987, the list price on a new Cimarron started at $15,032 (about $35,550 in 2021 dollars). The cheapest Cavalier listed at $7,255 that year, though the loaded Cavalier RS sedan with V6 engine started at $9,159. For 1982 through 1986, the base powertrain in the Cimarron consisted of a 1.8-liter or 2.0-liter four-cylinder — yes, the same double-digit-horsepower engines that went into Cavaliers — paired with a four- or five-speed manual transmission. The 2.8-liter V6, rated at 125 horses, was an option in those cars and became standard equipment in the 1987 and 1988 Cimarrons.