American Axle CEO, Richard Dauch, was rewarded a $8.5 million dollar bonus last Friday for his part in the American Axle and UAW strike with General Motors earlier this year that lasted for nearly three months. The decision to offer the large bonus was based off of the committee's account for American Axles' "strong financial performance in 2007" with a $37 million dollar profit for 2007.
As fuel prices continue to climb without stopping, Ford and Toyota have been forced to take further actions with the slowdown in production of their truck classes. Ford Motor Company is closing its Michigan factory for nine weeks starting next Monday which produces the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs. The plant will not resume production until at least August 25th, laying off 1,400 hourly workers in the process. Toyota Motor Corporation has also been affected by the recent slump in truck sales...
Trying everything they can to stay afloat, Ford Motor Company have made another announcement to the Union that more employee cuts are needed to help increase profits and adjust to the current market conditions. The decision comes after the United States auto sales figures were released for the month of May, in the red once again. Ford made a statement during the meeting with the United Auto Workers union, "so that we can make the vehicles in an efficient way that customers are buying", stated Anne Marie Gattari, a Ford spokeswoman.
General Motors has also announced this morning that two more shifts will be eliminated from two Michigan factories which produce the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra model pickup trucks. The two factories affected are located in Pontiac and Flint, Michigan. GM spokesman Tony Sapienza commented in an interview, "Before the strike at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., the Flint plant was running three shifts and Pontiac running two...It's market demand". Hopefully market demand will come back sooner than later. Reported by Detroit News.
Ford Motor Company has sadly made the announcement they will be cutting between 10 and 12 percent of their salaried work force, in efforts to cut costs and save the company from spiraling out of control. The rising cost of gasoline and raw materials such as prices hot-rolled steel, which rose from $830 per metric ton to $1,035 per metric ton in one week, are also taking a toll on the companies performance. "I don't think we've ever seen a decline week over week like this...It was clear to us it was time to act" CEO, Alan Mulally said. The recent cut will eliminate more than 2,000 jobs in the United States alone and employees could see their pink slips by the end of July. As reported by Detroit News.
Yahoo Business reports that Ford Motor Company has announced they will be further cutting production of their pickup trucks and SUV's, due to extremely slow sales and high fuel prices which have devastated the industry. Production at the Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne County, which produces the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUV's, will be shut down for approximately five weeks starting in late June. The other plant affected is the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky, which produces the F-Series Super Duty pickup, will be shut down for four weeks in July. Ford has also hinted of a new pickup truck to hit the North American Market by 2011, which will be smaller than the current F-150 and feature a more fuel-efficient engine. No further details have yet been released.
According to Detroit News, the 81-day long strike between American Axle Manufacturing Holdings Inc and the United Auto Workers against General Motors has officially ended, costing General Motors more than $800 million in the first quarter of 2008. "I'm happy to get this resolved, but not overly excited about the results...It's mind boggling that after 11 weeks and all (General Motors Corp.) did that things didn't change more" said Dana Edwards of the United Auto Workers.
General Motors Corporation made the announcement of the closure of their Windsor transmission factory in 2010. The factory currently produces four speed transmissions which is fast becoming "old technology", as automotive manufacturers shift towards more fuel efficient six speed versions.
As an update to our blog last Friday morning, General Motors Helps End American Axle Strike With Buyouts, UAW President, Ron Gettelfinger, announced Saturday that he was close to agreeing on a final deal with the American Axle strike, when that new proposal also included the shut down of three manufacturing plants. "I don't know where we're at because the company changes their position every time we turn around" Gettelfinger said in an interview over the weekend. "We have consistently offered proposals significantly higher than the agreement...And they have been consistently turned down by the UAW". As reported by Detroit Free Press.
GM announced today that it is eliminating one shift of production at its full-size pickup truck assembly plants in Pontiac, Mich.; Flint, Mich.; and Oshawa, Ontario; and its full-size SUV assembly plant in Janesville, Wis. The decisions were made to bring production capacity more in line with market demand.
Following the continuation of the American Axle strike that has been occurring for two months now, The Detroit News is reporting that the UAW "repeatedly rejected economic proposals that were considerably higher than the market rate", rejecting the more-than generous wage proposals to help continue the strike. American Axle has not released any details about those rejected economic proposals, but did note that the latest offer given was "nearly double the market rate" of $30 per hour.
American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. could not have found any other better way to piss off their employees even more, than to offer CEO, Richard Dauch, an $805,000 raise in salary, to a mere $10.2 million last year. This is after the fact that the company posted a profit of $37 million in 2007, as well as a $222.5 million dollar net loss two years ago, in 2006. Meanwhile, 3,600 of American Axle's employees have stood outside in the snow for nearly a month, striking against the company. Corporate life rocks. As posted by The Detroit News.
An article by the Detroit News, explains that General Motors Corporation will begin buying out more workers next week, even offering them deals on new cars. GM, whom have desperately been trying to cut back on its labor costs and work force, are now offering new retirement incentives which are comparable to those offered back in 2006.
In an article by The Motley Fool, General Motors is facing very weak truck sales figures, down 20 percent in February alone. With oil prices well over $100 per barrel, automakers in the truck industry are fighting one another for each truck sold. And with heavy hitters like the Toyota Tundra and Ford F-150, the race is becoming tighter and tighter.
As a continuation of our American Axle Strike coverage, General Motors have now announced the closure of four more plants, including the Willow Run Transmission, Ypsilanti Transmission, Flint Stamping and Grand Rapids Stamping plants, leaving as of this morning, a total of 29 factories shut down.
CBS News reports that Ford Motor Company will be making a production shift cut at their Louisville Plant, assemblers of the Ford Explorer Sport SUV. Nearly 800 workers will be laid off as a result of loss of demand in SUV sales, specifically for the Ford Explorer Sport itself.
As an update to our previous blog yesterday regarding a strike with American Axle, sole supplier for General Motors' axles and related parts, has caused a shut down of the General Motors Pontiac truck plant, forcing a layoff of about 2,500 workers.
Ford Motor Company is gearing up to reward it's workers with new bonuses, for nearly 23,7000 salaried and 64,000 hourly employees in North America, however "no final decisions have been made". Last year, Ford was able to cut their net loss from $12.6 Billion in 2006, to $2.7 Billion at the end of the year.
Marking the end to a roller coaster ride of a year, General Motors announced today their loss of profits for 2007. After adding in their deferred tax asset charges, General Motors was pounded with a $38.7 Billion dollar net loss last year, blaming the weak North American market as the main contributor.
In an effort to become profitable by 2009, Ford Motor Company are re-sizing their company once again, this time cutting 8,000 jobs via new buyout offers and early retirement packages. Ford is also plagued with a new round of recalls, 180,000 SUV's and Vans regarding faulty fuel hoses and interior door handles.
The Detroit News announced yesterday that General Motors Corporation will be offering buyouts to 46,000 of their 72,000 blue collar workers in the assembly plants, powertrain and stamping factories. In an effort to cut costs due to a declining demand for cars and trucks, the company plans to save $5 Billion dollars by 2011 by offering the buyouts. GM stated they will extend the buyout offers to their entire United States workforce in February, and will usher out workers in April.
Reported by AutoNews, the 2009 Ford Ranger has been axed from production, saving Ford over $2 Billion dollars UAW savings. The Ranger factory, based in St. Paul, Minnisota, were lucky enough to have the closure date pushed back to 2009, saving many of them their jobs. However that will all be put to an end in 2009. For you Ranger fands, the small pickup days are over.
After news yesterday that GM has become the number one automaker again and had signed GM-UAW agreements two weeks ago, the re-crowned number one automaker announced today of 2,000 more layoffs at three major factories, as reported by The Detroit News. Those factories include 1,000 workers at the GM assembly plant in Delta Township, 767 workers at the Hamtramck plant, and up to 900 workers at their truck plant in Pontiac, Michigan. Mike Crawford, a factory worker, said "A lot of us are skeptical about how all this went down..A lot of temps and people who voted for this contract did it on the basis that their kids and families would have jobs. Then, as soon as we ratify the contract, they put them on the streets."
MSNBC reports, "About 13,000 Chrysler workers — or 16 percent of the work force — will lose their jobs under a plan the struggling automaker said Wednesday would cut costs and return its U.S. operations to profitability by next year. The plan calls for closing the company’s Newark, Del., assembly plant, and reducing shifts at plants in Warren, Mich., and St. Louis. A parts distribution center near Cleveland also will be closed."
Ford Motor Company has announced plans to further reduce its capacity and work force, and ramp up new product introductions as it accelerates its North America “Way Forward” turnaround plan. Ford will cut its North American salaried-related work force by about a third and offer buyout packages to all Ford and Automotive Components Holdings (ACH) hourly employees in the U.S. The reductions will contribute significantly to reducing ongoing annual operating costs by about $5 billion. In addition, Ford will renew 70 percent of its North American product lineup by volume by the end of 2008.
"Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers agreed Thursday to extend buyouts to all of the company's U.S. hourly workers as the automaker prepares to announce the deepest restructuring in its 103-year history. With the future of the storied company on the line, Ford was to outline a turnaround plan this morning that's expected to include drastic job cuts, accelerated plant closings and a retooled product strategy," The Detroit News reported this morning.
Ford Motor Company will announce more "bold moves" through another restructuring plan tomorrow at 7am (ET). We can look forward to hearing about more plant closures, and more employee layoffs. See "Cabin Assignments on the Titanic" for more fun and merriment. "Ford executives are estimating the company could lose up to $9 billion this year including the costs of the restructuring plan," MSNBCreported this morning. Update: Announced just minutes after this blog post, Ford to offer buyouts to all U.S. UAW workers. So much for 7am tomorrow. Now I can sleep in...
According to a local Louisville, Kentucky TV station, Ford Motor Company has begun temporary layoffs of 1,800 workers as they shut down a shift from one of the area's two Ford truck plants. “I’m gonna take the next buy-out if they offer it,” says 29-year Ford employee Hollis Booker. “We ain’t sellin’ near as many trucks, we ain’t doin’ that,” says Aaron Mills. “I think it’s the gas prices… I think eventually, we’re gonna get laid off.”
According to Reuters today, "Bill Ford said on a conference call that Ford, the No. 2 U.S. automaker, was delaying until January a long-awaited restructuring announcement for its North American vehicle operations, which have lost more than $1.4 billion before taxes so far this year.
"That plan will include significant plant closings where facilities don't fit our strategy moving forward," he said.
The company previously said it would announce some restructuring measures at the time of the third-quarter earnings release."
"General Motors Corp. plans to eliminate 25,000 manufacturing jobs in the United States by 2008 and close plants as part of a strategy to revive North American business at the world’s largest automaker, its chairman said on Tuesday."
The Detroit Free Press reports, "Slower-than-expected sales of its pickup trucks will cause the Chrysler Group to shut down its Warren Truck Assembly Plant for two weeks in May and June, idling about 4,800 workers at the plant."
"Warren Truck is home of the new Dodge Dakota small pickup and the full-size Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. Chrysler has too many of both at its dealerships or on overflow lots in the Detroit area.
Chrysler was the only Detroit automaker to increase sales in 2004 and so far in 2005 -- however sales of the Dakota and Ram have been disappointing this year."
General Motors announced on Tuesday that it was laying off nearly 1,000 factory workers at its Linden, N.J., truck plant and ending production of one of Chevrolet's best-known models, the Blazer.
The layoff, scheduled for early next year, was originally anticipated for summer 2005 but was pushed up because of sagging truck sales.
MSNBC reports, "About 13,000 Chrysler workers — or 16 percent of the work force — will lose their jobs under a plan the struggling automaker said Wednesday would cut costs and return its U.S. operations to profitability by next year. The plan calls for closing the company’s Newark, Del., assembly plant, and reducing shifts at plants in Warren, Mich., and St. Louis. A parts distribution center near Cleveland also will be closed."
Ford Motor Company has announced plans to further reduce its capacity and work force, and ramp up new product introductions as it accelerates its North America “Way Forward” turnaround plan. Ford will cut its North American salaried-related work force by about a third and offer buyout packages to all Ford and Automotive Components Holdings (ACH) hourly employees in the U.S. The reductions will contribute significantly to reducing ongoing annual operating costs by about $5 billion. In addition, Ford will renew 70 percent of its North American product lineup by volume by the end of 2008.
"Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers agreed Thursday to extend buyouts to all of the company's U.S. hourly workers as the automaker prepares to announce the deepest restructuring in its 103-year history. With the future of the storied company on the line, Ford was to outline a turnaround plan this morning that's expected to include drastic job cuts, accelerated plant closings and a retooled product strategy," The Detroit News reported this morning.
Ford Motor Company will announce more "bold moves" through another restructuring plan tomorrow at 7am (ET). We can look forward to hearing about more plant closures, and more employee layoffs. See 
According to a local Louisville, Kentucky TV station, Ford Motor Company has begun temporary layoffs of 1,800 workers as they shut down a shift from one of the area's two Ford truck plants. “I’m gonna take the next buy-out if they offer it,” says 29-year Ford employee Hollis Booker. “We ain’t sellin’ near as many trucks, we ain’t doin’ that,” says Aaron Mills. “I think it’s the gas prices… I think eventually, we’re gonna get laid off.”
According to Reuters today, "Bill Ford said on a conference call that Ford, the No. 2 U.S. automaker, was delaying until January a long-awaited restructuring announcement for its North American vehicle operations, which have lost more than $1.4 billion before taxes so far this year.
"General Motors Corp. plans to eliminate 25,000 manufacturing jobs in the United States by 2008 and close plants as part of a strategy to revive North American business at the world’s largest automaker, its chairman said on Tuesday."
General Motors announced on Tuesday that it was laying off nearly 1,000 factory workers at its Linden, N.J., truck plant and ending production of one of Chevrolet's best-known models, the Blazer.
