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At a rally in downtown Detroit on Friday, just a couple of hundred yards from the headquarters of General Motors, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont addressed a cheering crowd of United Auto Workers members, capping a day of walkouts by the union with an effort to rally support for the strike. “The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the auto industry,” Mr. Sanders said. “It’s a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top the country belongs to all of us, not just the few.”The rally took place along Detroit’s riverfront, near the city’s iconic Renaissance Center towers, home to G.M. headquarters. Also nearby is the Huntington Place convention center, where auto executives were gathering for a black-tie charity ball to kick off the 2023 Detroit auto show.

Persons: Bernie Sanders, Sanders, —, ” Mr, “ Organizations: General Motors, United Auto Workers, Big Three, Ford Locations: Detroit, Vermont, walkouts, United States, G.M

Rodney Cornett got up at 4:30 a.m. on Friday, hopped in his F-150 pickup and reported as usual for a morning shift at the Ford Motor plant in Wayne, a gritty city just west of Detroit. But this morning Mr. Cornett, 56, a veteran union member who has worked at Ford for 28 years, wasn’t heading to the axle assembly area where he’s a team leader. “We really haven’t had much of a raise in 15 years,” Mr. Cornett said, holding a sign that read, “Fair Pay Now!” while cars and trucks constantly whizzed by, honking in support of the strikers. “We’ve gone through several contracts, and the company keeps saying how they’re hurting, but they’re making record profits. has been negotiating a new labor contract with the three Detroit automakers, but since the sides remain far apart on wages and most other issues, the union called a strike that began when the current bargaining agreement expired at midnight.

Persons: Rodney Cornett, Cornett, “, ” Mr, “ We’ve Organizations: Ford, United Auto Workers, Detroit Locations: Wayne, Detroit

☆ Aaron Rodgers says surgery ‘went great’ following season-ending Achilles injury
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Thomas Schlachter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Aaron Rodgers provided fans with an update following his season-ending Achilles injury just four snaps into his New York Jets debut, indicating that his surgery was successful. Rodgers was sacked by Leonard Floyd and suffered a complete tear of his left Achilles tendon during Monday Night Football. When asked if Rodgers will be making a return to football, Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was resolute. Jets coaching staff believe Rodgers will return ahead of next season. Michael Owens/Getty ImagesThe onus will now be placed on 24-year-old Zach Wilson to carry the New York Jets’ quarterback load.

Persons: CNN — Aaron Rodgers, Leonard Floyd, Achilles, ” Rodgers, Rodgers, Neal ElAttrache, Robert Deutsch, Nathaniel Hackett, ” Hackett, Aaron, Robert Saleh, “ I’d, ” Saleh, ” It’s, “, Connor McGovern, Michael Owens, Zach Wilson, Wilson, I’ve, ” Wilson, ” Organizations: CNN, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, NFL, “, Jets, Reuters, ” Jets, Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys, Sunday Locations: New York, Rodgers, Texas

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he'll use doubters as motivation in his rehabilitation from Achilles tendon surgery and indicates he'll play football again — perhaps even this season. Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon on the fourth snap of his debut with his new team on Monday night, a 22-16 overtime victory over Buffalo. Political Cartoons View All 1163 Images“Definitely some odds stacked against me based on age, but I like it,” Rodgers said. A lot of sadness, a lot of tears, a lot of dark frustration and anger, all the gamut of emotions. “I’m very confident in Zach and I think he’s confident himself, which is the most important thing,” Rodgers said.

Persons: Aaron Rodgers, Achilles, —, Rodgers, “, ” Rodgers, Pat McAfee, Neal ElAttrache, “ Stack, ”, I’ve, ” Rodgers wouldn't, “ I’m, Kevin Garnett, Buffalo's Leonard Floyd, Randall Cobb —, ” Zach Wilson, Zach, He’s Organizations: — New York Jets, Buffalo, Jets, MetLife, Dallas Locations: FLORHAM, N.J, Los Angeles, LA, Green Bay, it’s, York , New Jersey, New York

☆ U.A.W. Set to Begin Walkouts as Deadline Nears With No Contract Deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Automobile Workers union said late Thursday that its members were set to walk off the production lines in three plants in three states at midnight in what would be the first strike simultaneously affecting all three Detroit automakers. The union and the companies — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler — remained deadlocked in negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement with the current contract set to expire at 11:59 p.m. As the deadline neared, workers started to fan out at the plants to protest. At the outset, the strike would idle one plant owned at each automaker, and could force the automakers to halt production at other locations, shaking local economies in factory towns across the Midwest. “We are using a new strategy,” the union’s president, Shawn Fain, said in a video streamed via Facebook. “We are calling on select locals to stand up and go out on strike.”

Persons: Chrysler —, Shawn Fain, ” Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Detroit automakers, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Facebook

☆ U.A.W. Strike Looms Over Detroit Auto Show
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He added that workers at all three companies were prepared to strike and stay away from their factory stations as long as it took to win big gains. But a prolonged strike would almost certainly jeopardize the automakers’ plans to roll out new cars and trucks to take advantage of still strong demand. The auto industry has spent much of the last three years struggling to produce enough vehicles because of pandemic shutdowns and supply chain chaos. Those other automakers operate U.S. plants that use nonunion workers and their production is unlikely to be affected directly by the strike. The Detroit show, officially the North American International Auto Show, was once one of the premier auto expositions in the world.

Organizations: North American Locations: Texas, Detroit, Michigan

☆ U.A.W. Prepares for Partial Strike Against Detroit Automakers on Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Barely 24 hours before the contract deadline, the United Auto Workers leader said Wednesday that his members were prepared for a strike against the three Detroit automakers — first at a limited number of factories, with the walkout expanding if talks remain bogged down. “September 14 is a deadline, not a reference point,” he declared in an address to union members on Facebook Live. He said the initial strike locations would be “limited and targeted,” and would be communicated to members on Thursday night ahead of a Friday walkout. This tactic — a departure from the union’s usual strategy of staging an all-out strike against a single automaker chosen as a target — is intended to give the U.A.W. negotiators increased leverage in the talks, and to keep the manufacturers off balance.

Persons: Shawn Fain, ” Organizations: United Auto Workers, Detroit automakers —, General Motors, Ford Motor, Facebook

☆ Automakers and U.A.W. Remain Far Apart as Contract Deadline Nears
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Auto Workers union and the three established U.S. automakers remain far apart on wages and other issues with less than a week to go before contracts covering 150,000 union workers expire. So far, the companies — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent of Chrysler — have offered to raise pay by 14 percent to 16 percent over four years. Their offers include lump sum payments to help ease the impact of inflation, and policy changes that would lift the pay of recent hires and temporary workers, who typically earn about a third less than veteran union members. He has been seeking pay increases of about 40 percent and repeatedly warned that workers were ready to leave assembly lines when the current collective bargaining agreements with the automakers expire on Thursday. “We are prepared to strike, and we are ready,” said Jason Garza, a parts molder at G.M.’s technical center in Warren, Mich. “We want a fair contract, and I have a strong feeling it will be solidarity across the board.”

Persons: Shawn Fain, “, ”, Jason Garza Organizations: United Auto Workers, Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler Locations: U.S, G.M, Warren, Mich

Federal auto safety regulators moved Tuesday toward a recall of about 52 million airbag inflaters used by a dozen major carmakers, calling the parts unsafe and susceptible to rupture. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration scheduled a public meeting on Oct. 5 on its recommendation to recall the airbags, manufactured by ARC Automotive and Delphi Automotive Systems. ARC rejected the agency’s initial findings that its airbags were defective. Of the 52 million airbags, 41 million were manufactured by ARC and 11 million were produced by Delphi using a design licensed by ARC. The airbags were variously made in China, Mexico and Knoxville, Tenn., and were used by a dozen major carmakers: BMW, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Stellantis, Tesla, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Organizations: Traffic Safety Administration, ARC Automotive, Delphi Automotive Systems, ARC, Delphi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Maserati, Mercedes, Benz, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen Locations: United States, China, Mexico, Knoxville, Tenn

☆ Auto Strike Looms, Threatening to Shut Detroit’s Big 3
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“If that happens, even a short strike would impact economies throughout Michigan and across the nation,” said Patrick Anderson, the chief executive of the Anderson Economic Group in East Lansing, Mich. The terms of the new contract will determine how both autoworkers and the companies fare in an E.V.-centric industry. deserves a contract that sustains the middle class” and has named a White House liaison to the union and the automakers. An agreement before the contracts expire on Sept. 14 is still possible, and talks could continue beyond that date without a walkout. But Mr. Fain has repeatedly said he views Sept. 14 as a deadline — the day a strike could begin.

Persons: ”, Patrick Anderson, Biden, Fain Organizations: Anderson Economic Group Locations: Michigan, East Lansing, Mich

☆ Autoworkers Vote to Authorize Strikes if Negotiations Fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

G.M., Ford and Stellantis have suggested they will probably agree to some form of higher wages. A fresh indication of how the talks may go came on Thursday, when an Ohio battery plant owned jointly by G.M. Mr. Fain had repeatedly criticized wages at the plant, which had started at about $16 an hour, as being too low. said in July that it expected to earn more than $9.3 billion this year, about $1 billion more than a previous forecast. Ford expects earnings before taxes of $11 billion to $12 billion this year.

Persons: Fain, Fain’s, Tesla, Ram, Ford Organizations: Ford, G.M, LG Energy, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: Ohio, Korean, G.M, United States, Amsterdam, North America

☆ Automakers Face a Labor Showdown as the E.V. Era Looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

also hopes to push Stellantis to reopen a plant in Belvidere, Ill., that was idled this year, putting 1,350 people out of work. Mr. Fain said many workers typically worked 50 or 60 hours a week, leaving little time for family activities or rest. Stellantis said it intended to “fairly reward” its workers but warned that any agreement must not “jeopardize our ability to continue investing” in new vehicles and technologies. The automakers are investing tens of billions of dollars in electric vehicles but have yet to see significant sales or profits from them. The union is concerned that the move to E.V.s could cost thousands of jobs because electric vehicles generally require fewer workers to produce than traditional gasoline-powered cars and trucks.

Persons: Fain, G.M, “, ” Ford, Stellantis Organizations: nonunionized Locations: Belvidere , Ill

☆ Ford’s Profit Jumped in Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor earned $1.9 billion from April to June, up from $667 million a year earlier, the company said on Thursday. Robust sales of gasoline-powered trucks and sport-utility vehicles more than offset a substantial loss on electric models. The automaker reported revenue of $45 billion, up 12 percent from a year earlier, and said it had sold 1.1 million vehicles around the world, an 8 percent increase. Ford said it had lost $1.1 billion before interest and taxes on its electric vehicle business in the quarter, more than twice as much as it lost a year earlier. Ford now expects to lose $4.5 billion before interest and taxes on battery-powered cars and trucks in 2023, it said on Thursday, up from an earlier forecast of a $3 billion loss.

Persons: Ford Organizations: Ford Motor

☆ Slow Battery Production Crimps G.M.’s Electric Vehicle Rollout
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors is investing tens of billions of dollars to produce a bevy of new electric vehicles and, it hopes, catch up to Tesla. This year, it is struggling to produce a new type of electric car battery pack meant for the electric vehicles it plans to introduce over the next several years. built just 50,000 electric vehicles, and most of them used an older battery pack made by a supplier. In the United States, G.M. sold fewer than 2,800 vehicles that used its new, modular Ultium battery packs, being made at an Ohio factory that the company owns with LG Energy Solution.

Persons: “ It’s, Paul Jacobson Organizations: Motors, LG Energy Locations: United States, Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan

Carvana, the troubled used-car retailer, on Wednesday announced that it had reached a debt restructuring agreement with most of its bondholders in an effort to lower interest payments over at least the next two years and put its business on more solid financial footing. But Carvana took on a lot of debt, made a big acquisition and was unprepared for falling used car prices and rising interest rates. Carvana said its restructuring agreement covered more than $5 billion of senior, unsecured bonds and included the participation of Apollo Global Management, its largest bondholder. The interest on that new debt will be paid in kind for the next two years, meaning the principal Carvana owes will increase but the company won’t have to make about $430 million in interest payments in cash. The new debt will also come due later than the old notes.

Persons: Carvana Organizations: Wednesday, Apollo Global Management

☆ Ford Slashes Price of Electric F-150 as Demand Weakens
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor on Monday reduced prices of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck by between $6,000 and nearly $10,000, the latest sign of sluggish demand for electric vehicles. The price cuts come as inventories of unsold electric vehicles are rising on dealer lots, and follow several rounds of discounting by Tesla, the dominant seller of electric cars. Ford is lowering prices after it temporarily halted production of the truck this year to upgrade its assembly line and increase output. By the fall, the company expects its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center near Detroit to be able to churn out 150,000 Lightnings a year, triple its current production capacity. Competition in the electric vehicle business is growing more intense.

Persons: Tesla Organizations: Ford, Electric Vehicle, General Motors, Chevrolet Silverado Locations: Detroit

☆ Autoworkers Open Contract Talks in a Fighting Mood
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The three Detroit automakers and the United Auto Workers union have begun negotiating a new labor contract in what could become the most contentious talks between the two sides in perhaps half a century. elected a president who has vowed to win back many of the wage and benefit concessions the union has ceded over the last two decades. Shawn Fain, an outsider candidate, prevailed in an upset election victory over the incumbent U.A.W. president this year largely by promising to take a more militant approach to contract negotiations than his recent predecessors. Our union is united.

Persons: Shawn Fain, ” Mr, Fain, ” Organizations: Detroit, United Auto Workers, Motors, Ford Motor Locations: North America, Detroit

☆ Gerald C. Meyers, C.E.O. Who Paved Way for the S.U.V., Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His death was announced by his daughter Susan Meyers. In 1970, as a senior manufacturing executive, Mr. Meyers was tasked with evaluating a possible acquisition of Kaiser Jeep. But the board proceeded anyway — and put Mr. Meyers in charge. To appeal to more consumers, he upgraded existing Jeeps with better engines, suspensions and interiors, and directed the development of a new wagon, the Jeep Cherokee. Sales soon surged, steadying AMC’s shaky finances and driving consumer interest in roomy off-road vehicles.

Persons: Gerald C, Meyers, Susan Meyers, Kaiser Jeep, steadying Organizations: American Motors Corporation, American Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, AMC, General Motors, Kaiser, Jeep Locations: West Bloomfield, Mich, United States, roomy

☆ Ford’s U.S. Sales Rose 10% in the Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor said Thursday that its new-vehicle sales rose 10 percent in the three months between April and June, thanks to robust demand for trucks. The automaker sold 531,662 motor vehicles, up from 483,688 in the second quarter of the year, as sales of pickups, delivery vans and heavy trucks increased 26 percent. The gain in truck sales more than offset a decline of nearly 3 percent in sales of electric vehicles. Ford sold 14,843 battery-powered cars and trucks in the quarter, down from 15,273 in the same period a year earlier. The upgrade work mainly affected the Mustang Mach-E, whose sales declined 21 percent in the second quarter.

Persons: Ford Organizations: Ford Motor, Ford

☆ New Car Sales Jumped in the Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At the end of June, dealers had about 1.8 million vehicles in stock, nearly 800,000 more than at the same point in 2022, according to Cox data. At the same time, however, higher interest rates and higher car prices have put new-car purchases out of reach of many consumers. Cox estimated that total sales of new cars and trucks rose 11.6 percent in the first half of the year, to 7.65 million. The firm now expects full-year sales to top 15 million, which would be a rise of 8 percent. Toyota said its U.S. sales rose 7 percent, to 568,962 cars and light trucks.

Persons: Smoke, Cox Organizations: Cox, Toyota, Chrysler

☆ G.M.’s Sales Jumped 19% in the Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors said on Wednesday that its new-vehicle sales in the United States increased 19 percent from April to June, the strongest sign yet that the auto industry was bouncing back from parts shortages and overcoming the effects of higher interest rates. The automaker, the largest in the United States, said it sold 691,978 vehicles in the second quarter, the company’s highest quarterly total in more than two years. More recently, rising interest rates have made auto loans more expensive, causing some consumers to defer purchases or opt for used vehicles. “I’m not saying we are on the cusp of exciting growth here,” said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive, a research firm. “But we are now at a turning point where the auto market returns to more balance.

Persons: Motors, shutdowns, I’m, ”, Jonathan Smoke Organizations: Cox Automotive Locations: United States

☆ Proud Boys members fined over $1 million in ‘hateful and overtly racist’ church destruction civil suit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Josh Campbell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Members of the right-wing extremist group, the Proud Boys, have been ordered to pay more than a million dollars as part of a civil suit judgment involving the destruction of property in December 2020 at the predominantly Black campus of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. DC Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz approved Friday’s default judgment against Proud Boys members Joseph R. Biggs, Enrique Tarrio, Jeremy Bertino and John Turano, as well as the group’s limited liability corporation. In a blistering order, Kravitz described the “highly orchestrated” and “hateful and overtly racist conduct” from members of the Proud Boys during the “attack” on the Metropolitan AME church, in which a Black Lives Matter sign owned by the church was allegedly destroyed. A request for comment on the judgment has also been made to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. According to Kravitz’s order, on December 12, 2020, several people in Proud Boys regalia “leaped over Metropolitan AME’s fence, entered the church’s property, and went directly to the Black Lives Matter sign.

Persons: Neal E, Kravitz, Joseph R, Biggs, Enrique Tarrio, Jeremy Bertino, John Turano, ”, “, Arthur Ago, Tarrio, Donald Trump, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, DC, Proud Boys, Metropolitan AME, Tarrio, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal, “, Boys Locations: Washington , DC, Tarrio, Black, Washington

☆ Lordstown Motors, an Electric Truck Maker, Files for Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lordstown Motors, the troubled electric pickup truck company that bought a shuttered General Motors factory in Ohio, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday. Foxconn said Lordstown had breached their investment agreement because its stock had fallen below $1 a share. Lordstown said on Tuesday it had filed a lawsuit asserting that Foxconn failed to honor its agreement to invest more money into the company. Lordstown was founded in 2018 by Steve Burns, the former chief executive of another electric vehicle company called Workhorse Group. plant in Lordstown, Ohio, that had produced the Chevrolet Cruze sedan.

Persons: Donald J, Foxconn, Lordstown, Steve Burns, Trump Organizations: Motors, General Motors, Trump, Chevrolet, Twitter Locations: Ohio, Taiwan, Lordstown , Ohio

☆ G.M. and Stellantis Paid $364 Million in Fuel Economy Fines
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors and Stellantis paid a combined $363.8 million in penalties for failing to meet federal fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks they produced in previous years, according to federal government documents posted on Friday. paid $128.2 million for failing to meet the targets with the light trucks it sold in 2018 and 2019, according to documents published on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website. Stellantis, the company created when Fiat Chrysler merged with the French automaker Peugeot, paid $235.6 million for cars it sold in 2016 and 2017. paid its fine in December, the documents showed, and Stellantis made payments in December and May. The penalties were levied under the corporate average fuel-economy standards that the safety agency oversees.

Persons: Stellantis, G.M Organizations: Motors, Fiat Chrysler, French, Peugeot, Reuters

☆ U.S. Will Require All New Cars to Have Automatic Braking Systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The top federal auto safety regulator on Wednesday proposed requiring all new cars and trucks to have automatic braking systems that reduce the likelihood of collisions. The plan from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would require car companies to expand the use of more advanced and powerful systems than those currently installed in some vehicles on the market. Vehicles would also have to brake and stop to avoid hitting stopped or slow-moving vehicles at higher speeds. “I know we’re throwing a challenge out here, but we also know this technology is pretty well developed,” she said. In some places, roads have been designed and lighted to keep traffic moving quickly rather than to protect pedestrians and cyclists.

Persons: Polly Trottenberg, ” Ms, Trottenberg, ” Organizations: National, Traffic

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