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Combative de Nysschen defends Cadillac move, naming change

Johan de Nysschen isn't afraid of taking quick, decisive actions, even if they are criticized. Since taking the wheel at Cadillac, he instigated moving the luxury division's base of operations to Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood and introduced a new naming scheme for the future of the brand, like he did at Infiniti. The polarizing boss recently explained his feelings about the future of Cadillac in more depth on his Facebook page, but unfortunately only his friends could read it. Thankfully, Daily Kanban posted much of the strongly worded missive for the whole world to see.
Much of the message examines the decision to move some employees to New York. De Nysschen claims that it's all about giving Cadillac distance from Detroit to reshape itself. It allows for, "No distractions. No side shows. No cross-brand corporate considerations. No homogenized lowest common denominator approach. Just pure, unadulterated, CLASS."

GM, UAW poaching Nissan workers in Tennessee

General Motors and the United Auto Workers are going on a recruitment drive at the Spring Hill factory in Tennessee, and they're hoping to poach some skilled workers from Nissan's nearby plant in Smyrna, TN. The General and the union even bought a billboard advertising for industrial electricians near the Japanese automaker's facility, according to the Daily News Journal. The reason for the billboard was simple. "GM was short of electricians," said Tim Stannard, the president of the UAW local at Spring Hill, to the Daily News Journal. The factory currently builds the Chevrolet Equinox but has a contract to assemble the next generation of Ecotec engines and the Cadillac XT5, which replaces the SRX. Thanks to the $185-million deal, employment there is expected to double by May 2016, according to Stannard, with roughly 1,800 additional union jobs. Beyond just several billboards, GM has job postings online for the Spring Hill plant looking for workers with specific skills. There has already been some interest in the positions among Nissan employees, Stannard indicated. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research, the average GM worker currently makes $58 an hour, including benefits. Comparatively, Nissan pays an average of $42 an hour with benefits. The General's number could change in the coming weeks because its contract with the UAW is about to expire, and higher wages are among the major negotiating points.

Man trapped in Cadillac XLR for 14 hours after battery dies

A 75-year old Cleveland man ended up trapped in his 2006 Cadillac XLR for 14 hours last month, according to a story reported by the Detroit Free Press. The owner of the car, Peter Pyros, hopped into his roadster to back out onto his driveway, but he quickly learned that the battery was dead. He was "trapped" because the doors use an electric button to activate the door latch to open the door. Since the battery was dead, the buttons did nothing. Now, GM planned for an eventuality like this by placing a manual door release handle on the ground next to the seat. It's marked with a red diagram of the driver-side door opening. There's also a section about it in the owner's manual. The only problem here, was that Pyros says he didn't know the release was there, and he didn't have his owner's manual in the car. Because of this, Pyros may not have made it out alive if not for a neighbor coming to his rescue. "I came to the conclusion that I was going to die ... I was at peace with it. I asked God to help me twice, then I said, 'OK, God if this is the way I'm supposed to die, I will die,'" Pyros said to reporters. There's every chance he could have died in the car, too. Temperatures in Cleveland hit 77 degrees the day he was in the car, and he said it was unbearably hot and difficult to breathe after only 30 minutes sealed inside. Pyros reportedly tried yelling, pounding on and even trying to break the car's windows without success. At one point, Pyros wrote a note to his nephew explaining what happened if he ended up dying. What eventually saved him was a curious neighbor who came to investigate after he noticed his garage door was still open late at night. His neighbor called the police after he found him in the car, and emergency personnel actually ended up charging his car's battery up enough to get the electric door release to work. Of course, after everything settled down, there are now lawyers involved. They're going after GM, with an argument accusing the automaker of not making the emergency latch more obvious both in the car and in the owner's manual. GM doesn't appear to be having any of it. Here's its statement on the matter: "Because this varies by make and model, drivers should review the door lock section of their owner's manual, and follow up with their dealer or customer assistance center if they have any questions," GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson wrote to the Free Press. This type of door release isn't particularly uncommon for GM vehicles.