Car News Articles

The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) have ratified a generous deal with Ford– frozen wages, no two-tier tears at bedtime– by a reported 67 percent margin. (I guess the other 33 percent thought they could get blood out of a stone). Even more flabbergasting: the contracts aren’t even up until September. CAW boss Buzz Hargrove says [via The Detroit News] that GM and Chrysler will go down just as fast, just as hard. “They will accept the same economic terms. It’s only a question of when. I’m hoping it will be in the next week or so.” Not so fast, Mr. Bond. Chrysler’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. They got no game. And GM, well, GM’s got 32 U.S. plants off-line (including all the key ones), the prospect of more union action to come, sweet F.A. going on in its high profit margin SUV and truck biz, and a cash conflagration that could heat Hoboken for a week. Buzz? Buzz wants GM to commit more product to the Ontario factory. Never mind that the Peso is worth less than a Canadian Loonie. Or the fact that GM builds trucks in five other factories, including two in Silao and Toluca, Mexico). Still, look for GM to roll over and play dead (it’s who they are and what they do), while Chrysler delays the inevitable (selling everything to Magna) for as long as possible.