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Chrysler uses Super Bowl spots to honor troops, farmers

How do you follow up such revered and successful ads as Chrysler's last two Super Bowl commercials? Imported from Detroit and Halftime in America should be given credit for giving the automaker's public perception a complete overhaul after its rescue from the brink with taxpayer money. What next, then?
We just found out during Super Bowl XLVII. This year Chrysler went with two commercials, one for Jeep and the other Ram. The two-minute-long Jeep commercial, called Whole Again, is narrated by Oprah Winfrey and presented as an open letter to the service men and women of America, simply expressing admiration for what they do - poignant message coming from a company whose history is so entwined with that of the military's.
The Ram commercial, called Farmer, honors the agricultural backbone of this country. Its soundtrack is a speech entitled "So God Made a Farmer" given by the famous radio broadcaster Paul Harvey, which plays over a slideshow of original photography commissioned by Ram. The images, of course, focus on farming and the people who do it for a living, and there's a few Ram trucks in there, as well.

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.

Detroit Three's lucrative pickup war intensifies as Ram makes big gains

DETROIT — The battle for profits from sales of large pickup trucks is intensifying among the Detroit Three automakers as sales of small cars in the United States shrivel. For decades Ford has had the single best-selling truck brand in its F-Series trucks. General Motors' Chevrolet brand was a solid No. 2, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Ram was a distant third. Now, that hierarchy may be in flux. Sales figures for December and the fourth quarter released on Thursday show Ram tied with GM's Chevy for the No. 2 spot, as sales of the redesigned Ram pickup surged, fueled in part by demand for an optional 12-inch (30.48 cm) dashboard screen. Chevy not long ago held second place to Ford by a wide margin. GM executives said on Thursday they are bullish on their new GMC and Chevy trucks for 2019.Related: How the Detroit Three's pickups compare on paper 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie review 2019 Chevy Silverado 2.7L four-cylinder review 2019 Ford F-150 2.7L EcoBoost review "There's no doubt this segment (pickup trucks) is one of the epicenters of the auto wars," said Sandor Piszar, director of marketing for Chevrolet at GM. "It's been that way forever, and we wouldn't have it any other way." On Wall Street, investors give electric car leader Tesla a higher valuation than any of the Detroit automakers. But in the nation's heartland, big pickups remain far more popular and profitable than any electric car — and most other consumer vehicles of any kind. Large pickups generate at least $17,000 a vehicle in pretax profit for GM, the company has indicated in disclosures to investors. By contrast, many Detroit Three sedans are so unprofitable, their manufacturers have decided not to build them anymore. 'Hotly contested' Sustaining sales and pricing in the large-pickup segment will be critical in a year when most forecasters expect overall U.S. car and light truck sales to fall. Ford's U.S. sales chief, Mark LaNeve, on Thursday called the F Series "the backbone of our franchise" during a conference call, and added the "segment will continue to be strong, but hotly contested" in 2019. Automakers are banking on pickup truck sales to stay strong even if U.S. interest rates continue to rise. Rising interest rates translate into higher monthly car payments and are expected to deter some buyers in 2019. GM has said 27 percent of Chevrolet and GMC trucks — which can haul trailers by day and substitute for a luxury sedan by night — sell for more than $55,000.