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Stellantis and the UAW reach tentative contract deal to end strike

The United Auto Workers has made a tentative deal with Stellantis that follows a template set by UAW and Ford. The deals will amount to total pay hikes of more than 33% when compounding and cost-of-living are factored in. The contracts will start with an initial increase of 11%. "We look forward to welcoming our 43,000 employees back to work and resuming operations," Stellantis said on Saturday. The Ford and Stellantis agreements will have to be ratified by all workers. U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement the Stellantis "contract is a testament to the power of unions and collective bargaining to build strong middle-class jobs." The deal includes an agreement to reopen Stellantis' assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, which will now build midsize trucks, Fain said in a video on social media. The trucks could compete against Ford's Ranger and GM's Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon models. The factory was previously shuttered and became a rallying point for the union's bargaining campaign. Stellantis also agreed to build a battery plant next to the Belvidere plant, UAW said. Illinois Governor Jay Pritzker called the agreement a "huge win for Illinois" and said the state will offer incentives to help offset the automaker's costs. Stellantis will also keep open two facilities that were under threat of closure -- an engine manufacturing complex in Trenton, Michigan, and a machining operation in Toledo, Ohio, Boyer said. In all, the automaker committed $19 billion in new investments in U.S. operations and the creation of 5,000 jobs where previously it planned to cut 5,000 jobs, Fain and Boyer said. The UAW has won the right to strike over product investment decisions, Fain said. The United Auto Workers on Saturday expanded its strike against General Motors to include its Spring Hill, Tennessee, engine plant, a move that could stall GM's large pickup production and increase its financial pain. The expansion of the seven-week strike leaves GM the only Detroit automaker without a contract deal.  Those deals won workers a record 25% jump in wages over the 4-1/2-year contract and allow the companies to restart their profitable truck assembly lines. At GM, people familiar with the bargaining said sticking points in the UAW negotiations include retirement benefits and issues related to temporary workers. GM has more retirees than either Ford or Stellantis and increases to pension benefits for workers hired before 2007 cost GM more than its rivals.

Chrysler patents smarter minivan folding seats

It's frightening to think of how quickly the mice would have overtaken us if we hadn't stayed one step ahead of them with better mousetraps. We'll never have to worry about that in our relentlessly re-engineered world, though. Case in point: Chrysler has been granted a patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office for an improved design of the already wondrous Stow 'n' Go seating found in the automaker's Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.
Introduced in 2005, the Stow 'n' Go was improved in 2008, and based on the drawings of this third-generation improvement, the new design appears to allow stowage of the second row of seats without having to move the front-row seats forward as much. It look like it also involves fewer operations and moving parts, with a portion of the seatback being incorporated into the flat floor when the seats are stowed, as opposed to having a completely separate cover.
It's possible that the innovation may appear on the next-generation minivans expected in 2015, but Chrysler isn't commenting on the patent.

FCA CEO Mike Manley will take undefined new role after PSA merger

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Mike Manley will remain with the new group set to result from a planned merger with French rival PSA-Peugeot, Chairman John Elkann said on Wednesday. In a letter to Fiat Chrysler (FCA) employees on the day the two companies announced a binding agreement for a $50 billion tie-up to create the world's fourth-largest carmaker, Elkann said he was "delighted" that the combined group would be led by current PSA CEO Carlos Tavares. "And Mike Manley, who has led FCA with huge energy, commitment and success over the past year, will be there alongside him," he said. He did not say what position Manley would hold. Elkann — who will chair the new group — said there was still much to be done to complete the merger. "Over the coming months we must work tirelessly and determinedly to fulfill all the approval requirements needed to finalize the commitment we have signed," he said. Related Video:     Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Citroen Peugeot FCA PSA merger Mike Manley carlos tavares