1922 Model T Ford With Dump Body on 2040-cars

Auto blog

DoJ fines Japanese parts firms $740M in massive automotive price-fixing scandal

Nine Japanese suppliers have pleaded guilty in US court over charges of price fixing in the automotive parts industry, resulting in the Department of Justice doling out a total of $740 million of fines, according to a report from Bloomberg. The scandal, which has resulted in General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Chrysler spending up to $5 billion on inflated parts and driving up prices on 25 million vehicles has sent the DoJ hustling into investigations. "The conduct this investigation uncovered involved more than a dozen separate conspiracies aimed at the U.S. economy," Attorney General Eric Holder (pictured above) said during yesterday's press conference.
As the investigation stands, the DoJ has issued $1.6 billion in fines against 20 companies and 21 individual executives, with 17 of the execs headed to prison. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott Hammond said, "The breadth of the conspiracies brought to light today are as egregious as they are pervasive. They involve more than a dozen separate conspiracies operating independently but all sharing in common that they targeted US automotive manufacturers."
Big-name suppliers indicted in the investigation include Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hitachi Automotive and Mitsuba Corporation. A list of fines and other corporations named in the investigation is available at Bloomberg.

With contract expiration days away, UAW targets GM first for negotiations

The United Auto Workers union on Tuesday said that it would target General Motors as the first of the Detroit automakers for talks ahead of the current four-year contract's expiration on Sept. 14. This year's contract talks between the union and GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV are expected to be contentious as U.S. new vehicle sales are slowing and automakers face rising costs associated with the development of electric vehicles and self-driving cars. Rising healthcare costs, job security, profit sharing and the use of temporary workers are expected to be major sticking points. GM in particular has been a target of union ire since announcing the closure of five North American plants late last year. That move drew a wave of criticism, including from U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly prodded GM and last week said the No. 1 U.S. automaker should begin moving its operations in China back to the United States. "We are prepared and we are all ready to stand up for our members, our communities and our manufacturing future," UAW President Gary Jones said in a statement. In a statement, GM said, "We look forward to having constructive discussions with the UAW on reaching an agreement that builds a strong future for our employees and our business." The contracts come at a difficult time for the UAW, as a federal corruption investigation into the union continues to grow. Last week, the FBI conducted searches at Jones' home, a union retreat and multiple other locations, including the home of the union's previous president, Dennis Williams. To date, seven people linked to the union and the automaker have been sentenced in the government's corruption investigation. Reporting by Nick Carey.

How the 2015 Ford Mustang will save your knees

The 2015 Mustang is one of the most hotly anticipated vehicles of the moment, and Ford continues to leak out interesting little details about its newest pony car. The latest info doesn't have anything to do with its quarter-mile time or handling, but if any of that goes drastically wrong, the innovative new glovebox-mounted airbag may prevent passengers from knee injuries.
All variants of the 2015 Mustang get the active knee airbag as standard, and it's the first vehicle in Ford's lineup to receive the system. The setup is actually quite simple and ingenious. The glovebox is made from a plastic outer panel that is attached to the inner door. Sandwiched between them is this new injection-molded plastic bladder that folds flat when in use. If the passenger-side airbag deploys, the system springs into action to act as a cushion for your knees. Compared to a traditional knee airbag that has to fully inflate, this arrangement is 65 percent lighter and can use a 75 percent smaller inflator. It's also basically invisible when you look at the glovebox door.
Ford spokesperson Ed Saenz declined to tell Autoblog whether the system will appear in other vehicles in the Blue Oval's lineup but said, "We're considering other applications." Provided it's effective, the approach seems too simple not to make its way to other products. Scroll down to watch a video showing how the glovebox-mounted knee airbag works.