Auto headlines
Auto headlines
Strike deadline suspended
A UAW local in Flint has suspended a threat to strike General Motors Corp. Thursday.
"There will be no strike by UAW Local 598 workers," the union said on its Web site.
The UAW Flint local, along with locals in Delta Township and Warren, issued strike notices to the automaker last week, in the midst of negotiations regarding local contracts that typically define plant issues such as overtime and work rules.
Axle talks to continue
Negotiations between the UAW and American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. are to continue today, as the strike at the Detroit supplier enters its eighth week.
During the last week, as negotiations resumed after a month of stalled talks, the two sides have exchanged proposals, with the company and the UAW saying that they were far apart.
On Feb. 26, about 3,650 American Axle workers at four operating plants walked off the job after contract talks collapsed leaving major economic issues such as wages and attrition packages undetermined.
Ford sells 3 plants
Ford Motor Co. has sold three plants that once belonged to its spin-off Visteon Corp.
The plants, which make automotive glass and glass for buildings, were sold to Zeledyne, a company created by Tulsa businessman Robert Price for the purchase.
The purchase includes factories in Nashville, Tenn., Tulsa Okla., and Ciuidad Juarez, Mexico, near the border with Texas, as well as an engineering office in Allen Park.
Zeledyne will be headquartered in Allen Park. Spokeswomen for Ford and Zeledyne declined to disclose the purchase price.
The purchase closed after two UAW locals approved contracts with the Zeledyne, which lowered compensation for workers whose employment stemmed from Ford Motor Co.
VW sales up 7%
German automaker Volkswagen AG said Monday it sold 7% more vehicles in the first quarter than it had a year earlier to reach a new high, despite the dampening effect on exports of the strong euro.
Sales for the January-to-March period increased to 1.572 million vehicles — the company’s best quarterly sales figure ever, Volkswagen said. Sales in March gained 2% to 619,893 vehicles, even though the month had fewer working days than in the previous year.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company is "on a good path to reach a new sales record for the whole year in 2008," Volkswagen Group sales head Detlef Wittig said.
Europe’s biggest automaker by sales was helped by a strong performance in China, where sales rose 32% to 268,204 vehicles in the first quarter, and Brazil, which posted a 23% increase to 147,752 vehicles. The euro has been hitting record highs against the U.S. dollar, making goods exported from Germany more expensive in the United States. U.S. sales fell 0.7% to 72,224 vehicles.
GM to build in Brazil
General Motors Corp. said it will open a $200-million engine and components plant in Brazil by the fourth quarter of next year.
The plant, in Joinville City, will employ 500 people and will be able to produce 120,000 engines and 50,000 cylinder heads annually when it is running at full capacity, GM said.
