September 29, 2010
The UAW. Remember that new spirit of cooperation that Bob King has been touting since he took over the union's top job? How's that working out so far? GM began shutting-down its Indianapolis stamping plant yesterday after UAW workers emphatically rejected a proposed 50 percent pay cut that a potential new owner of the plant was seeking in order to do business there. GM spokeswoman Kim Carpenter confirmed that GM had ended its search for a potential buyer. “We are disappointed that UAW Local 23 was not able to ratify the proposed labor agreement,” Carpenter said in an e-mail to Automotive News. "As previously announced, we will continue steps to wind down the facility, which will cease production in mid-2011 and close by December 2011.” Gregory Clark, UAW Local 23 shop chairman, said the plant's 650 workers would take their chances transferring to another GM plant should jobs open, because the proposed cuts were unacceptable. He also said about one-third of the hourly work force is eligible to retire. Thus the fundamental quandary for the UAW as it attempts to participate in the auto business going forward: Jobs at reduced pay, or no jobs at all.
Armchair Fuel Economy Experts. 60 mpg fleet average for the U.S. automakers by 2025? Unlikely, but we'll have to listen to all of the handwringing and noise generated in the next few days by people who don't even have the faintest of clues as to what they're talking about. The brainiacs in Washington assigned to the task have no clue, and the environmental groups pushing for it won't be happy until we're all driving flatulence-powered pod cars anyway. Memo to news shows and other content-hungry media outlets out there: If they're available to talk about it there's a pretty good chance they have no idea what they're talking about. The people who do are too busy working on the challenges of increasing fuel efficiency every day. Oh the horror, the horror.
Saab, BMW. Saab signs a deal to acquire turbocharged 1.6-liter BMW 4-cylinder engines beginning in 2012. If Saab is to have a snowball's chance in hell of survival, it will be deals like this that will keep the Swedish auto company afloat.
(Ford)
Ford unveiled its full lineup of the next-generation Focus in Paris today at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. The ultra-advanced compact car will come in three body styles globally - hatchback, sedan and wagon - and an ST performance model will also be part of the program, which we will get here in the states (yeah!). European production starts in Saarlouis, Germany, at the end of 2010 prior to the sales launch in early 2011. North American production starts right here in Michigan in late 2010 with the car being available in April. Asia, Africa and South America production will follow.
Editor's Note: Our "Quick Take" this week covers the 2011 Corvette GS Convertible. The timing was perfect - it arrived on a sunny, 88-degree, late-September day, just begging me to put its top down. Not so perfect was the color - Velocity Yellow - not the best choice if you want to check out the 436-hp V-8 (and not very attractive in general). But I couldn't help myself - the throaty growl of that V8 is just too seductive. The Corvette is easy to drive around town, although you can just feel its impatience - all it really wants to do is go fast. The power convertible top is simple to operate (although it's not that easy to re-latch it once your open-air experience is over). Inside, the Ebony interior was clean and functional - and it's loaded with all the goodies you'd expect (custom leather-wrapped interior, heated seats, Bose speakers, Bluetooth, etc.). But these do come at a price. Our test car had more than $16,000 in options, including the $9,700 4LT Premium Equipment Group, which provided many of the aforementioned goodies. All of this puts a 'mid-level' Corvette basically in Z06 territory, and that doesn't seem right. That said, however, the car looks great - sexy and brutish at the same time, it remains one of the most iconic vehicles on the road. -WG Editor-in-Chief's Note: This latest version of the Corvette is about how I'd order one - well, minus the Velocity Yellow paint and the side striping of the Grand Sport Heritage package plus the 6-speed manual gearbox - but it's clear that even as good as the current iteration of the Corvette is, the car is in desperate need of a total re-think. That's not coming with the next-generation C7 unfortunately - much to the chagrin of many - as that car will basically be the same package size - albeit a couple of hundred pounds lighter - and it will come with myriad and expected advancements and improvements. One of the more noteworthy casualties of GM's bankruptcy was in fact the C7, in that it should have been out by now, not sometime in 2012. Because frankly the passionate and dedicated enthusiasts who work on the Corvette should be feverishly readying the C8 as you read this instead of doing the final tweaks on the C7. But that's not the case. If I were running GM I'd skip the C7 altogether and go right to the C8, because I'm afraid the C7 will not be the car that the Corvette could or should be. We need a futuristic Corvette with real design reach - one bristling with advanced technology - so that the car doesn't look stale again in a couple of years. As for the current car, besides the dated interior one huge pet peeve of mine are those side stripes that come with the Grand Sport Heritage Package. First of all, they have no connection to any competition Corvette in history. Not one. As a matter of fact, the whole side stripe thing was first used by the Shelby American team at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1963 to differentiate the Cobra team cars from each other so that they could be identified as they flew by the pits. Let me repeat that, for the Shelby American Cobra Team, Chevrolet and Corvette's arch rivals for all time (see below). That someone at Chevrolet decided to attach these stripes on the last version of the production Corvette Grand Sport back in 1996 was nonsensical enough, but the fact that they're still doing it is mystifying. And to include them in something called the "Grand Sport Heritage Package" is just flat-out insulting and smacks of so much Bush League Bullshit to me. Oh well. The 2011 Corvette GS is a fine car. It's fast and feels right with the Z06 chassis bits, etc., but more and more it feels like a snap shot of a previous era. And I'm afraid the new C7 isn't going to move the needle nearly enough. - PMD
2011 Corvette GS Convertible: $75,805 ,($58,600 Base Price; 4LT Premium Equipment Group, $9,700, custom leather-wrapped interior, Bose Premium 7-speaker system, head up display, heated seats, adjustable sport bucket seats, power convertible top, etc., etc.; Grand Sport Heritage Package, $1,195, two-tone leather seats, logo seat headrest embroidery, fender strip ash mark design; Navigation System. $1,795; 6-speed automatic paddle-shift transmission, $1,250; Dual-mode performance exhaust, $1,195; Velocity Yellow Tintcoat Paint, $850; Pedal Covers, $270; Total Options: $16,255; Destination Charge $950)
(Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
Venice, California, 1963. 289 Cobra roadsters (in USRRC configuration) on display for PR photos in front of the famed Shelby American shop in Venice. Note the side stripes. Dan Gurney (below) in his Shelby Cobra at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1963.
(Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
WE'RE OPENING THE VAULT!
The AE wearables are back - and only in extremely limited quantities and sizes, we might add - and once they're gone, they're gone! We're starting with our most popular items, the classic AE Sweatshirt and AE Hat. Click on a PayPal button below to order yours now! (If you prefer to pay by check, please send us an email with AE STORE in the subject line, and we'll reserve your item.)
AE Sweatshirt - Crewneck, sturdy 80/20 cotton/poly, in black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. Size XL only. 40 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
AE Hat - Black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. 25 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.
Publisher's Note: Check-out John McElroy's daily news show covering everything about the auto biz by clicking on the graphic below. Good stuff guaranteed. - PMD
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links: Subscribe via iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319 http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml
Subscribe via RSS: