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Honda may recall up to 1M vehicles for airbag issue, following Toyota's lead

It seems Toyota won't be the only one recalling the faulty Takata airbag inflators for long. Honda insiders in Japan claim that the company is getting close to announcing its own worldwide campaign that would begin before the end of June.
Unnamed sources close to Honda in Japan tell Automotive News that the company is pursuing an internal investigation into possibly affected models and is working with Takata to gather more information. They claim that it could involve even more than the 1.14 million cars worldwide that the automaker covered under the first recall for the problem in April 2013, including 561,000 vehicles in the US.
Toyota jumpstarted this process last week when it recalled over 2 million cars worldwide, including 844,277 in the US. Soon after, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began a preliminary evaluation into the issue following six reported incidents, and started assembling data about potentially affected models from Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Chrysler. NHTSA also began investigating Takata itself.

180,000 new vehicles are sitting, derailed by lack of transport trains

If you're planning on buying a new car in the next month or so, you might want to pick from what's on the lot, because there could be a long wait for new vehicles from the factory. Locomotives continue to be in short supply in North America, and that's causing major delays for automakers trying to move assembled cars.
According to The Detroit News, there are about 180,000 new vehicles waiting to be transported by rail in North America at the moment. In a normal year, it would be about 69,000. The complications have been industry-wide. Toyota, General Motors, Honda and Ford all reported experiencing some delays, and Chrysler recently had hundreds of minivans sitting on the Detroit waterfront waiting to be shipped out.
The problem is twofold for automakers. First, the fracking boom in the Bakken oil field in the Plains and Canada is monopolizing many locomotives. Second, the long, harsh winter is still causing major delays in freight train travel. The bad weather forced trains to slow down and carry less weight, which caused a backup of goods to transport. The auto companies resorted to moving some vehicles by truck, which was a less efficient but necessary option.

Poor Chrysler 200 sales blamed for 1,420 layoffs in Sterling Heights

FCA will indefinitely lay off a total of 1,420 workers from its Sterling Heights Assembly and Stamping plants on July 5, according to The Detroit News. This decision will cut a 1,300-person shift that builds the Chrysler 200, and it will also affect 120 people who stamp the sedan's components. The company's statement said the decision would "better align production with demand." FCA plans to give these folks open full-time positions as they become available. Chrysler 200 sales are down 63 percent to just under 18,000 units so far in 2016. After the cuts, there will still be one shift to build the 200, but even then the model won't have much of a future. In January, CEO Sergio Marchionne announced that FCA would discontinue production of the 200 and Dodge Dart because customers were no longer interested in small sedans. All of the roughly 3,000 hourly workers at Sterling Heights have been on a temporary layoff since February 1, according to The Detroit News. They don't go back to work until next week. United Auto Workers Vice President Norwood Jewell released a statement saying that while the "shift reduction at Sterling Heights Assembly is unfortunate, it is not unexpected." However, he was fairly upbeat about the cuts because FCA plans to increase production capacity for trucks and SUVs. "I believe that in the long term this move will be a positive one for our members and the company," he said. During last year's labor negotiations, the UAW's deal reportedly included an agreement for FCA to move 200 and Dodge Dart production to Toluca, Mexico, but the company promised to build the Ram 1500 at Sterling Heights Assembly. FCA spokesperson Jodi Tinson gave no comment about future vehicles at the factory when asked by Autoblog. Related Video: Statement Regarding Indefinite Layoffs at SHAP In order to better align production with demand at its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, FCA US notified the State of Michigan, the City of Sterling Heights and the UAW today that it intends to return the plant to a one shift operation, beginning July 5. The Company will place indefinitely laid off employees in open full-time positions as they become available within the Detroit labor market based on seniority. A Statement from UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell on FCA Announcement about Sterling Heights Assembly: While today's announcement of a shift reduction at Sterling Heights Assembly is unfortunate, it is not unexpected.