Obvious: Tennessee Volkswagen plant workers claim UAW tricked them...

Lies, trickery and the support of democrats are the only things union have left. 

Via Fox News:

Autoworkers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant say they’ve been tricked into supporting a drive to bring in the union.
Workers at the two-year-old Chattanooga plant informally indicated support for bringing in the United Auto Workers, a decision that could pave the way for letting the powerhouse labor organization represent workers in collective bargaining. However, since Tennessee is one of 24 so-called “Right to Work” states, plant employees don’t have to sign up or contribute dues.
Now, some eight workers at the plant, which employs about 1,600, say they thought they were simply agreeing to have a secret vote on bringing in the union, when in fact, they were signing cards professing their support for it. The workers also say that when they objected, they were told they had to go to the local union hall in order to reclaim the cards. The National Right to Work Foundation filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
“There’s been a long history of bad actions in pushing workers into the union,” Patrick Semmens, vice president of legal information for the NRTW foundation, told FoxNews.com. “These workers were told that it was a secret ballot vote. They were being forced into the union illegally.”
Keep on reading…

AAA: E-15 gas blend could damage millions of vehicles and void car warranties...

File this in in 'news you can use.'

The AAA says the Environmental Protection Agency and gasoline retailers should halt the sale of E15, a new ethanol blend that could damage millions of vehicles and void car warranties.

AAA, which issued its warning today, says just 12 million of more than 240 million cars, trucks and SUVs now in use have manufacturers’ approval for E15. Flex-fuel vehicles, 2012 and newer General Motors vehicles, 2013 Fords and 2001 and later model Porsches are the exceptions, according to AAA, the nation’s largest motorist group, with 53.5 million members.

“It is clear that millions of Americans are unfamiliar with E15, which means there is a strong possibility that many may improperly fill up using this gasoline and damage their vehicle,” AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet tells USA TODAY. “Bringing E15 to the market without adequate safeguards does not responsibly meet the needs of consumers.”

Turbo Tax Timmy Geithner driving force behind termination of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts?

It appears several Obama administration figures may have perjured themselves before Congress. That is becoming par for the course for the Obama administration.

Emails obtained by The Daily Caller show that the U.S. Treasury Department, led by Timothy Geithner, was the driving force behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company.

The move, made in 2009 while the Obama administration implemented its auto bailout plan, appears to have been made solely because those retirees were not members of labor unions.

The internal government emails contradict sworn testimony, in federal court and before Congress, given by several Obama administration figures. They also indicate that the administration misled lawmakers and the courts about the sequence of events surrounding the termination of those non-union pensions, and that administration figures violated federal law.

Green Fail: Only 35 percent of hybrid car owners bought another one last year

Surprisingly, the price of gas does no affect hybrid car loyalty. Only 35 percent of hybrid car owners bought another one last year.

How much do hybrid drivers really, truly like their cars? According to R.L. Polk, not all that much – at least not in 2011.

Polk has released a new hybrid loyalty analysis that concludes that only 35 percent of people who bought a hybrid bought another one last year. The data comes from car purchases made in 2011, and Polk found that Toyota Prius drivers are the most loyal, both to the gas-electric technology and to Toyota itself. Sixty percent of Toyota hybrid owners bought another vehicle from the automaker, even if it wasn't a hybrid. A recent J.D. Power Customer Retention Study found that the average brand loyalty was 49 percent, but that doesn't take powertrains into account.

Congratulations: Your Tax Dollars Saved 8 of the 10 Worst Built Cars in America

President Obama thinks you should thank him for saving bailing out GM and Chrysler. What did you get for your money? 8 of the 10 Worst Built Cars For 2012 in America are made by either GM or Chrysler according to this list compiled by Forbes. Thanks President Obama and the UAW. The Smart ForTwo and Toyota FJ Cruiser are the only two not made by Chrysler LLC and General Motors.

That said, we poured over the latest data from Consumer Reports’ 2012 Annual Auto Issue to identify which models, based on a convergence of objective test results, could be considered the 10 Worst Built Cars for 2012. (See the accompanying slide show for the complete rogues’ gallery and selection criteria.)

We started by examining CR’s road test ratings and isolated the models that were ranked at or near the bottom, as noted by an aggregate score under 50. Overall ratings are based on more than 50 individual tests and evaluations, and are presented on a 100-point scale. We then identified those models that received the lowest marks for reliability, based on Consumer Reports subscriber surveys, and were cited for at least two other “worsts,” including bottom-of-the-pack value ratings, highest five-year operating costs, lowest owner satisfaction, poorest fuel economy in a given class and/or worst performance in accident-avoidance tests.

Of the 10 models that comprise our final list of 10 Worst-Built Cars for 2012, all but two of them, the Smart ForTwo and Toyota FJ Cruiser, come from domestic-brand automakers, specifically Chrysler LLC and General Motors. While those automakers have been making great strides in recent years with new and recently redesigned models, they’re still recovering from their near-death experiences in 2008-2009 and the laggards in their respective lines awaiting major makeovers or replacements continue to haunt them. Keep on reading...

Obama campaigns on bailing out Detroit, but 55% of Americans think it was a bad idea

Screen shot from here

The term bailout is still toxic.

Via National Journal:

A majority of Americans think the federal government should not have helped out U.S. automakers that were in financial trouble, but rather should have allowed them to go it alone, according to a new United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll.

Thirty-six percent of Americans think the government should have provided help, but 55 percent think “these companies should have been allowed to succeed or fail on their own,” the poll shows. The results echo other surveys, including a May 2010 poll conducted by CBS News in which a third of respondents thought the government should have helped, while 61 percent thought they should not have.

Keep on reading…

Green Fail: Fisker Automotive announces layoffs in U.S. Making cars in Finland.

President Obama gave Fisker Automotive a half billion clean energy loan. They subsequently announced they would build cars in Finland, not the U.S. Thy still had U.S. research operations, but now the layoffs begin. Oh, and they want more federal tax dollars from the Department of Energy.

(Politico) — In another setback for President Obama’s clean energy loan programs, the recipient of more than a half-billion dollars in federal loan guarantees is laying off workers at their Delaware and California operations.

Delaware’s News Journal reports that Fisker Automotive, a California-based electric car start-up company, is laying off an undisclosed number of staff to try to reserve enough capital in order to qualify for more federal help from the Department of Energy, according to a Delaware state development official.

“They’re trying to preserve the cash that they have,” said Alan Levin told the News Journal. “And unfortunately, until they meet the milestone that DOE continues to set … they’re not able to access the additional capital that they need.”

The company also came under fire last year for taking federal loans while producing cars in Finland. Company officials told ABC News at the time that “there was no contract manufacturer in the U.S. that could actually produce our vehicle.” The company was working on reopening a shuttered General Motors plant in Wilmington to produce vehicles — an effort that top Obama administration officials lauded.

Keep on reading…

Government Motors Denies the Volt is a Flop

It may be too early to tell is the Volt is a flop, but it isn't living up to it's billing as the car that was going to save GM.

(Fox News) — Last year wasn’t a great one for General Motors’ first production plug-in range-extended electric car.

Continued negative press — not to mention post-crash-test fires and production-line upgrades — conspired to produce first-year sales figures a little lower than GM had hoped.
Does that mean the Chevrolet Volt is a sales flop? According to GM’s Vice Chairman Steve Girsky, it’s too early to tell.

Speaking at the Automotive News World Congress event on Tuesday evening at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, Girsky was keen to point out that while the Chevrolet Volt missed its 10,000 car sales target for 2011 by 2,329 vehicles, it didn’t mean the Volt was a flop.

“I think it’ll be May or June before we know whether this thing really has legs,” he said. “We are prepared for if it does.”

Read more here…

Green Fail: Fisker Automotive recalls electric lemons

Fisker Automotive is recalling the 2012 Karma luxury plug-in hybrid cars; all 239 of them. They are fire hazards. President Obama gave Fisker Automotive a half a billion loan of you tax dollars two years ago.

From the New York Times:

Fisker Automotive is recalling all 239 of its 2012 Karma luxury plug-in hybrid cars because of a fire hazard, according to a report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Prices on the 2012 model start at $103,000, including the destination charge.

In a report filed recently on the agency’s Web site, Fisker said some hose clamps were not properly positioned, which could allow a coolant leak. “If coolant enters the battery compartment an electrical short could possibly occur, causing a thermal event within the battery, including a possible fire in the worse case,” the company told the safety agency.

Fisker said the problem was discovered on Dec. 16, when workers at the Valmet Automotive assembly plant in Finland noticed coolant dripping. Fisker said it was not aware of any consumer complaints, warranty claims or “any other reports related to this condition.” It said fewer than 50 vehicles were in the hands of consumers.

Priceless: New Ford ad blasts bailouts (video)

Not only wasn't Ford bailed out by taxpayers, they haven't gotten the same UAW concessions that were granted to GM and Chrysler. In-spite of these handicaps, they are still kicking butt. They have every right to crow about it.

Ford buyer Chris in ad:

“I wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government. I was going to buy from a manufacturer that’s standing on their own: win, lose, or draw. That’s what America is about is taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail that you gotta’ pick yourself up and go back to work. Ford is that company for me.”

Transplant Auto Plant Workers Thumb Their Noses at UAW

These workers already have great paying jobs and good benefits. Why would they want to pay union dues and risk a strike?

(Bloomberg) — The United Auto Workers is trying to hold its first successful organizing drive at a foreign-car factory in the U.S. To succeed, the union has to convince people like Rocky Long.

“I don’t see any problems here. I don’t see how they could help me out,” said Long, who’s worked at the Hyundai Motor Co. (005380)assembly plant in Montgomery, Alabama, for five years. Of the union representatives who came to his home this year, he said, “I really didn’t give them the time of the day.”

UAW President Bob King has pledged to organize a foreign automaker this year to expand its bargaining power beyond the U.S. companies it has negotiated with for seven decades. While Detroit is mostly retooling old plants, overseas car companies are building and expanding U.S. factories. The union is seeking to revive membership ranks that declined 75 percent to 376,612 last year from its peak of 1.5 million.

Standing in his way are rising sales and added investments at Hyundai’s Alabama complex and sites such as affiliate Kia Motor Corp.’s factory in Georgia. Already, King and his organizers are learning that workers at foreign-owned assembly plants, most of which are in the U.S. South, may not be easy to persuade.

“The UAW has to convince workers that they need a union when in fact without a union they got what they consider to be one of the best jobs they’ve ever had: a good manufacturing job with a company that’s expanding,” Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, said in an interview.

Toyota Goes Back To Work In Japan

Of the Japanese, Toyota was hardest hit by the Tsunami. Honda and Ni8ssan were second. Toyota has the most plants in the affected zone. Plus, Japanese auto-parts plants tend to closely surround the auto-manufacturer they are supplying. This week, Toyota will resume production in all plants. They may still suffer from reduced production due to lack of certain parts or rolling blackouts due to electricity shortage.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. resumed car production at all of its plants in Japan Monday for the first time since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but said the factories will run at half capacity due to parts shortages.

The world’s No. 1 automaker said it was still struggling to secure around 150 types of auto parts. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami destroyed parts factories in northeastern Japan, causing severe shortages of components.

Government Motors Fail: Steering Wheel Falls Off Chevy Cruze (video)

Twenty-one hundred (2100) 2011 Chevy Cruze have been recalled for every drivers worst nightmare. The steering wheel fell off at 65 MPH. Perhaps the UAW should focus on quality a little more.

Steering wheel falls off Chevy Cruze. (video)

UAW Threatens to brand transplants as “human rights violators” for resisting unionization

One of the reasons transplant auto companies have been more successful is their workforces haven't been organized by the UAW. Now that the UAW owns significant portions of GM and Chrysler, they want to level the playing field.

(Autoblog)- United Auto Workers president Bob King wants to reverse the UAW’s eroding course, and one of the best ways to strengthen its position is through increased membership. The Detroit News reports that King and company are looking to bring the power of one to the nearest transplant automaker producing vehicles in the U.S. King says that he wants foreign automakers to know that the UAW has learned from past mistakes and that the rank and file is not “the evil empire.” Good to know, right? Well…

After King informed the transplants that the dark side has no power over the UAW, he then went on to tell automaker management at Toyota and Honda that efforts to block the right to fair bargaining will be branded “human rights violators.”

UAW plans to tap strike fund in order to organize transplant automakers

The UAW has lost 1.1 million members since 1979. They are part of the reason taxpayers had to bail out GM and Chrysler. Now, they want to bring that pain to the transplant automakers such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Also, the Wall Street Journal reported today that King is willing to tap the union’s $800-million strike fund for its push to organize hourly factory workers at foreign-owned car plants.

In December, King told the Free Press the union plans to begin with a friendly, cooperative approach to non-unionized automakers, but has made preparations for resistance.

Hybrid vehicles are hot sellers...to the government

For ordinary taxpayers, interest is waning.

FOX Nation reported:

President Barack Obama’s administration has bought almost a fourth of the Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. hybrid vehicles sold since he took office, accelerating federal purchases as consumer demand wanes.

The U.S. General Services Administration, which runs the government fleet, bought at least 14,584 hybrid vehicles in the past two fiscal years, or about 10 percent of 145,473 vehicles the agency purchased in that period, according to sales data obtained by Bloomberg under a Freedom of Information Act request. In fiscal 2008, hybrids accounted for less than 1 percent of government purchases, the data showed.

Toyota thinks Obama is “not industry friendly”

Well, President Obama is certainly very UAW friendly. He has spent close to $100 billion in our tax dollars in an attempt to save GM and Chrysler. This has left the US Government owning the majority of GM and a significant share of Chrysler. When the people who own your competitor get to make recall decisions that can cost billions, it smells bad even if the recall decision is the correct one. On top of this, liberal democrats tend to be 'regulatory happy.' Why wouldn't Toyota, the other transplants and even Ford view the Obama administration in an adversarial way?

Internal Toyota documents derided the Obama administration and Democratic Congress as “activist” and “not industry friendly,” a revelation that comes days before the giant automaker’s top executives testify on Capitol Hill amid a giant recall.

According to a presentation obtained under subpoena by the House Oversight and Government Relations committee, Toyota referred to the “changing political environment” as one of its main challenges and anticipated a “more challenging regulatory” environment under the Obama administration’s purview.

Barack Obama has a 31 year-old kid dismantling General Motors

This kid has never stepped a foot inside an auto plant and this is his first government job. From the New York Times:

It is not every 31-year-old who, in a first government job, finds himself dismantling General Motors and rewriting the rules of American capitalism.

But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry.

Nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to what ailed an industry that had been in decline ever since he was born. A bit laconic and looking every bit the just-out-of-graduate-school student adjusting to life in the West Wing — “he’s got this beard that appears and disappears,” says Steven Rattner, one of the leaders of President Obama’s automotive task force — Mr. Deese was thrown into the auto industry’s maelstrom as soon the election-night parties ended.

Story on partisan dealership closings grows

Many are claiming this story does not have merit because most dealers tend to be Republican. This seems plausible at first glance because most dealership owners are older, upper middle class businessmen. A first look at dealerships by Gateway Pundit indicates owners donate more to the GOP by a ratio of 76% to 24%. That does not explain why almost no Democratic supporter had their dealership closed. Many actually gained dealerships or had their competition eliminated.
Here are the story basics from Examiner.com:

Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Repubicans. What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere has gathered some steam today with revelations that among the dealers being shut down are a GOP congressman and closing of competitors to a dealership chain partly owned by former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty.The basic issue raised here is this: How do we account for the fact millions of dollars were contributed to GOP candidates by Chrysler who are being closed by the government, but only one has been found so far that is being closed that contributed to the Obama campaign in 2008?

Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan learned from a House colleague that his Venice, Florida, dealership is on the hit list. Buchanan also has a Nissan franchise paired with the Chrysler facility in Venice.
"It's an outrage. It's not about me. I'm going to be fine," said Buchanan, the dealership's majority owner. "You're talking over 100,000 jobs. We're supposed to be in the business of creating jobs, not killing jobs," Buchanan told News 10, a local Florida television station.

Buchanan, who succeeded former Rep. Katharine Harris in 2006, reportedly learned of his dealership's termination from Rep.Candace Miller, R-MI. Buchanan owns a total of 23 dealerships in Florida and North Carolina.

Also fueling the controversy is the fact the RLJ-McCarty-Landers chain of Arkansas and Missouri dealerships aren't being closed, but many of their local competitors are being eliminated. Go here for a detailed look at this situation. McClarty is the former Clinton senior aide. The "J" is Robert Johnson, founder of the Black Entertainment Television, a heavy Democratic contributor.


A lawyer representing a group of Chrysler dealers who are on the hit list deposed senior Chrysler executives and later told Reuters that he believes the closings have been forced on the company by the White House.

"It became clear to us that Chrysler does not see the wisdom of terminating 25 percent of its dealers. It really wasn't Chrysler's decision. They are under enormous pressure from the President's automotive task force," said attorney Leonard Bellavia.

Adding to this story is the revelation Obama's Car Czar, Steven Rattner, is married to Maureen White, the former National Finance Chair for the Democratic Party.

After closing GOP dealerships, Chrysler wants to open new dealerships

After closing 789 dealerships, almost exclusively GOP-linked, Chrysler now wants to open new dealerships. Perhaps some big DNC donors want to enter the automotive market.

Automotive News is reporting:

Chrysler did more last week than thin the dealer ranks in clogged metro markets. Chrysler also took out some underperforming dealers, leaving some good smaller markets without any Chrysler stores.

Chrysler President Jim Press said the company will be back in those markets.

Chrysler has been managing its dealer count downward in overdealered metro markets, a program called Project Genesis.