2008 Chrysler Sebring Limited on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Autoblog Minute: UAW and FCA avoid strike, Clarkson teases new show

FCA avoids a worker strike, a former Top Gear host teases us with a picture from Amazon's new car show, and Toyota predicts autonomous cars by 2020. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] FCA avoids a worker strike, a former Top Gear host teases us with a picture from Amazon's new car show, and Toyota predicts autonomous cars by 2020. I'm senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. A UAW strike of FCA was avoided thanks to a zero-hour tentative agreement reached this week. Worker concerns that were renegotiated in the new [00:00:30] deal include adjustments to the two-tier wage scale, health care costs, and production outsourcing. Now check-in with Autoblog as we update our reports on this evolving story. Shooting began on Amazon Prime's new automotive show starring the former Top Gear crew. That's Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. Now Clarkson threw out a tweet from day one of filming on location at Algarve Motor Park in Portugal. The picture features the show's [00:01:00] three stars and crew posing with the holy trinity of hyper cars. That's a McLaren P1, a Ferrari LaFerrari, and a Porsche 918 Spyder. This Prime show is being called Gear Knobs though the name is unofficial. Now if a tweet is any indication of what we can expect, who cares what it's called this is gonna be awesome. (Eds Note: Clarkson tweeted Friday that the show will not be called Gear Knobs.) Toyota predicts drivers could be obsolete on highways as early as 2020, with technology dubbed the Toyota Highway Teammate or THT. Toyota is using a modified [00:01:30] Lexus GS to show what this is capable of. THT is already able to create a driverless freeway car that's capable of changing lanes, making passes and taking curves. Plus, it can keep safe distances from other vehicles. Toyota is currently testing this on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to check out my full recap this Saturday. And I'll have some added insight on the BMW M4 GTS. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. [00:02:00] Show Logo Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals.

Dealer chain accuses FCA of paying dealers to pad sales [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The story has been updated to include a full press release from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on the Napleton Automotive Group's allegations. A Chicago-based dealership group has filed an explosive lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles accusing the company of paying dealers to fake new-vehicle sales, Automotive News reports. Edward Napleton, president of the Napleton Automotive Group, filed the suit on Tuesday. It claims that FCA offered Napleton money to fudge end-of-month sales figures. According to the filing, dealers would report false transactions, only to "back out" at the start of a new month "before the factory warranty on the vehicles could be processed and start to run." According to Automotive News, FCA was aware of the false reports and rewarded dealership managers for hitting sales targets. The lawsuit cites one example at Napleton Arlington Heights Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram where an FCA business center manager offered Napleton $20,000 "to falsely report the sales of 40 new vehicles." The payment would be disguised "as a co-op advertising credit to the dealer's account." Such a move would prevent a sales audit, AN reports. Napleton rejected the deal, telling FCA it was illegal. He later learned a similar arrangement was made with a competing dealer to falsify the sale of 85 vehicles. They were given "tens of thousands of dollars as an illicit reward for their complicity in the scheme." FCA has vehemently denied the accusation in a statement obtained by Automotive News. "While the lawsuit has not yet been served on FCA US, the company believes that the claim is without merit and was filed by internal counsel to the dealer group as FCA US has concurrently been discussing with the dealer group the need to meet its obligations under some of its dealer agreements," the statement said. "The company is confident in the integrity of its business processes and dealer arrangements and intends to defend this action vigorously." There are additional allegations, as well, claiming FCA "strong-armed its dealers to achieve sales numbers" and accusing the company of maintaining a "pattern of conduct towards its dealers [that] has been one of coercion and threats of termination having nothing to do with the actual performance of its dealers." FCA is riding a wave of 69 consecutive months of year-over-year sales gains. More on this one as it becomes available. FCA Strongly Rejects Allegations by Two U.S.

UAW reveals more details for tentative FCA deal

Around 40,000 union workers employed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have a new proposed contract to vote for or against just about a week after soundly rejecting a previous proposal. Like the contract that was rejected, this new proposal was negotiated between union leadership and management at FCA. If workers vote this time to accept the contract, negotiations are likely to begin in earnest with the other two big American automakers, Ford and General Motors. The biggest sticking points that kept the previous contract proposal from being ratified revolved around so-called second-tier UAW workers. Under the rejected contract, there wasn't a clear path in place that would bring these newer hires into wage parity with first-tier workers. The newly proposed contract, however, would have second-tier employees earning around $29 per hour – the same as first-tier workers – after eight years of employment. A slightly revised profit-sharing plan is also included, as is a larger signing bonus for first-tier workers. Gone from the new contract proposal is a health-care cooperative that would combine workers from all three Detroit-based automakers into one pool. While this action had the potential to lower health-care costs for UAW members, it wasn't universally understood by rank-and-file workers, said UAW President Dennis Williams. "I was a little naive," he said. "I really thought everyone understood it. It is my fault. I should have educated people more on it. And so we did take it out of the agreement." If ratified, this new contract will go into effect immediately and will cover a four-year period. Over that course of time, the UAW expects FCA to increase its employment figures by a little more than 100 workers, according to reports. Additional details on the contract can be seen on the UAW's website here. News Source: The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press, United Auto Workers (PDF)Image Credit: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Earnings/Financials Hirings/Firings/Layoffs UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat FCA